I imagine everyone has, by the time they reach my age, had some sort of physical therapy. Sometimes it is needed after an injury, sometimes after surgery, sometimes because of a physical condition or illness. If you have had a good experience with physical therapy, you know that it hurts, but that the hurt eventually reduces the pain. If you have ever done any sort of strength training, that should make sense to you. After a work-out your muscles might be sore, but soon you can do more with less soreness. In order to strengthen a muscle, you simply must cause it some stress. If I refuse physical therapy because "it hurts," sooner or later I won't be able to move at all.
I keep doing the physical therapy exercises I was given 20 years ago. That is why I can still walk. Anyone who has had severe back pain knows that it effects every single part of your life. No one moves anything, except maybe their pinkie finger, without aid from the back one way or the other. When we first moved to Tampa, things were so unsettled with unpacking, finding new doctors, and having men in the house renovating practically every inch of it, that I did not do my exercises for about 6 months. And my back knew it. It took a couple of months to get things back in order. And whenever I have even missed a couple of days due to traveling or illness, that little twinge in my lower back tells me it's time to get back to work!
I do one exercise that stretches out my back in a particularly strong way. I feel the pull when I lean over. It hurts, but I have grown to think of it as a "good" hurt because when I sit up straight afterward, the "real" pain is gone. Keith has a spot just under his left shoulder blade that hurts due to a bullet wound. When I feel around in there, I can feel the knot. When I rub it he usually winces and grunts a few times, but afterward, he always says, "That's so much better." I am sure you get the point by now.
May I suggest that the same is true of "spiritual therapy?" Studying to better oneself often hurts as we begin to see faults we have ignored. Sometimes it hurts so much that we just blind ourselves to what we see. James describes something similar: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (Jas 1:22-25).
And then there are the "wounds" that a brother can inflict with rebukes, reproaches, or sometimes just an exhortation. No matter how carefully he words it, it will not be any fun to listen to, any more than physical therapy is fun. Yet, a real friend often knows best what we need to hear at the moment, and if his friendship is true, he will rub those sore spots until they grow better. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are profuse (Prov 27:6). Too often we prefer the flattery, and our souls will suffer even greater pain if we give in to that preference.
So give yourself some spiritual therapy today. You will feel all the better for it, and be in better spiritual shape too.
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it… (Ps 141:5).
Dene Ward
I keep doing the physical therapy exercises I was given 20 years ago. That is why I can still walk. Anyone who has had severe back pain knows that it effects every single part of your life. No one moves anything, except maybe their pinkie finger, without aid from the back one way or the other. When we first moved to Tampa, things were so unsettled with unpacking, finding new doctors, and having men in the house renovating practically every inch of it, that I did not do my exercises for about 6 months. And my back knew it. It took a couple of months to get things back in order. And whenever I have even missed a couple of days due to traveling or illness, that little twinge in my lower back tells me it's time to get back to work!
I do one exercise that stretches out my back in a particularly strong way. I feel the pull when I lean over. It hurts, but I have grown to think of it as a "good" hurt because when I sit up straight afterward, the "real" pain is gone. Keith has a spot just under his left shoulder blade that hurts due to a bullet wound. When I feel around in there, I can feel the knot. When I rub it he usually winces and grunts a few times, but afterward, he always says, "That's so much better." I am sure you get the point by now.
May I suggest that the same is true of "spiritual therapy?" Studying to better oneself often hurts as we begin to see faults we have ignored. Sometimes it hurts so much that we just blind ourselves to what we see. James describes something similar: But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (Jas 1:22-25).
And then there are the "wounds" that a brother can inflict with rebukes, reproaches, or sometimes just an exhortation. No matter how carefully he words it, it will not be any fun to listen to, any more than physical therapy is fun. Yet, a real friend often knows best what we need to hear at the moment, and if his friendship is true, he will rub those sore spots until they grow better. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are profuse (Prov 27:6). Too often we prefer the flattery, and our souls will suffer even greater pain if we give in to that preference.
So give yourself some spiritual therapy today. You will feel all the better for it, and be in better spiritual shape too.
Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it… (Ps 141:5).
Dene Ward
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