Out with the old, in with the new . . .you!

Welcome back to Stress Less: A Good Bible Study. I'm glad you are on this journey with me. Share in the comments, or in an email, how this bible study has impacted your faith walk. It would mean a lot to me to hear your story.

Let's pray:

Lord, thank you so very much for leading us to meet every day and share in Your Word. What a blessing it is to fellowship with others, no matter where their belief is. Thank you for each person reading these words. Bless them today, Lord. Help them to grow closer to You every time they open Your Word. Please relax our minds now and let Your Holy Spirit open our eyes to Your Wisdom, as we begin. In Jesus' name, amen.

I promised you yesterday to share how valuing yourself leads you to naturally make choices that improve your life. The truth is that when you begin to care about yourself, truly decide to be loving to yourself, and value how you spend the 24 hours in each day at your disposal, you will find you no longer are attracted to people who run you down, drain you, criticize you, or waste your time.

You will be more attracted to, and in turn bring in, those people who lift you up and energize you. Your emotional energy just won't match up with those naysayers anymore and they will fall away. Some of them might even notice how much more pleasant and positive you are, and will start to emulate you. Either way, you will naturally move away from negative influences and rise to a new level of friends and companions.

Can you see how this will make your life feel far less stressful? __________

Read Proverbs 12:25-26

What causes anxiety? ____________________

What makes your heart glad? _____________

What happens when you choose negative, mean-spirited friends? __________________________

How about Proverbs 16:27-30

Know anyone like that: those who dig up evil, sow strife, whisper and gossip about others, entice others to bad choices, or treat "friends" perversely, which means starts trouble and fights between them?

I used to draw those types of people to me like a moth to a flame, back in my twenties. They always seemed like the most fun-filled, exciting friends, at first. Like Mr. Wickham, in Pride and Prejudice, they had the happy manners as to ensure their making friends, but it was less certain whether they were equally capable of retaining them.

I used to worry that if I was myself, I would lose friends. May be you worry about that, too. You know what I say to that? Good, I hope you do.

What I mean is that when you are authentic, you will draw people to you who enjoy, love, admire, cherish, and adore your true, authentic self, and those that don't . . . so long . . . seeeee ya.

Dr. Seuss said it best: "Go ahead and be yourself. Those who mind don't matter, and those that matter, don't mind."

Do you think surrounding yourself with people who just get happy being around you, being you, would lead to stressing less? You bet it does!

Self-Value = Stress-Less

Tomorrow I am going to share with you a technique you can use to immediately tell if you, or someone else, is being authentic. It's pretty fun to do with friends. I use this in my talks and it's hard to get everyone settled down again because they are laughing too hard.

Let's end in prayer:

Lord, thank you for opening our eyes to the fact that we can be ourselves and others will appreciate it. Some of us haven't seen our authentic selves since we were kids so we might be a little up and down for a while until we get used to the new and improved, er, original "me." We ask you to make this an easy and inevitable process. Help us to celebrate who You created! In the name of Jesus, amen.

Love, Karen 

Photo by Adam Borkowski, courtesy of http://www.photoxpress.com/