Using our words for good!

 

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog! We are exploring together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Likewise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life.

 

Today we begin the exciting journey of using our good wellbeing to help other people. Ultimately, to know and to serve God we must turn our thoughts away from ourselves and on to others. Amazingly, however, that service we provide to others further enhances not only our knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10), but our own wellbeing as well. Read one of our captivating research studies on this topic at https://teleiosresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CV-TELEIOS-GCC-II-CMHJ-2013.pdf.

 

We can divide this topic into two sections: our words and our actions. Today we start with our words! The manner in which we speak to one another is of vital importance. The Bible implores us to control our tongue and reminds us how destructive our speech may be (James 3:1-13). How do we do this in a practical way? Biblical speech can be broken down into three basic steps:

 

1. Foundational biblical thinking

2. Biblical planning

3. Biblical speaking

 

Let’s discuss briefly each point in turn.

 

Foundational biblical thinking

 

The first step to speaking to one another in a godly way is to control what we think about other people. Ultimately, what we think about someone will influence our behavior and speech. The apostle Paul is a good example to us in that he typically begins each epistle to a church by expressing gratitude, commendation and his commitment to pray for those to whom he is writing. It's very difficult to be nasty to someone for whom you are thankful, you realize the good things God has done in their life and you are praying. Such profitable thinking is critical to Bible oriented speech.

 

Biblical planning 

 

Thinking well of someone is not the end of the process of developing biblical speech. We must consider specifically how we might help a person. This takes some consideration (1 Timothy 4:16). In our busy lives it's not easy to know or even notice a person's need. Consequently, taking a few minutes to consider a person's situation in life and potential needs is critical. What if you cannot think of any needs? That's easy, ask them! This demonstrates your love and care and helps you to know how to love them. In summary, develop a plan!

 

Biblical speaking

 

Once you have a mindset that is favorably disposed towards someone and a plan to meet their need(s), you are better positioned to speak with them. Indeed, how we speak to each other as Christians is very important. The Bible indicates (Ephesians 4:29) that we should speak to one another’s need. Further, the whole concept behind the Greek word for love agape (αγαπη) is to love based not primarily on emotion, but on the other person's needs. This includes speech. Our speech is not a tool to use primarily to express our own emotions but to help other people. Such thinking and speech processes then will give you the opportunity to give away the lessons of wellbeing that you have learned from scripture and have incorporated in your own life. Wow, what transformative ideas! The Bible is a wonderful tool.

 

Thank you for joining me today. Next week we will continue this discussion regarding service to others.

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos/

 

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.

 

Fruit of the Spirit: Living Well!

 

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog today! We continue the conversation about scriptures that detail helpful attributes God desires us to have. One of the most important is stated in Galatians 5:22-23 which details the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

 

As they are a fruit of the Spirit how can they be gained? Last week we learned that in general there are three roles in the Christian’s relationship with the Spirit. These roles can be used to gain the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit as well as other godly characteristics that can improve our lives. Let’s apply these three principles in regard to the fruit of the Spirit.

 

Non-variable actions of the Spirit: 

 

A Christian should first realize they possess the Holy Spirit permanently: He dwells inside them with all of His available power (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5); and the Spirit is our seal (guarantee) of salvation and cannot be removed (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30).

 

Variable actions of Christians: 

 

It is only the believer themselves who can limit the action of the Spirit in their lives. Therefore we are told to “walk” (i.e., lifestyle) in the Spirit and become mature in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18). We do this by being obedient and seeking the attributes of God through scripture.

 

Variable actions of the Spirit: 

 

If allowed, the Spirit through the word of God can empower our lives, put to death the deeds of the flesh, and lead and comfort us (Romans 8:13-16), changes us (2 Corinthians 3:18) and helps produce in us the 9 fruits of the Spirit. Not only may these characteristics contribute potentially to better wellbeing personally, but their presence is a measure of our maturity as a believer.

 

Other verses also speak about wonderful attributes the Christian may acquire from the Spirit (Romans 15:13; Romans 8:6; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 14:17; Ephesians 5:9).

 

Read more about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives – https://teleiosresearch.com/holy-spirit-power-source-for-the-christian-life/

 

That’s all for now. Thank you for joining me. Next week we will discuss how a Christian, having gained better wellbeing themselves, can also enhance the wellbeing of their family, friends and colleagues. See you next week!

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos/

 

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.

 

The Holy Spirit and Wellbeing!

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog today! We are exploring together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life?  

 

We recently finished our series on five scriptural tools to maturity: praise, prayer, fellowship, outreach and receiving teaching to cultivate the results of biblically based wellbeing in our lives. We discussed four of these results: forgiveness, hope, empathy and gratitude. An important verse with additional results of biblical living is Galatians 5:22-23 which denotes the ‘fruit of the Spirit’: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. What role does the Holy Spirit play?

 

This is an important issue to understand how the Spirit works in conjunction with the tools to maturity to produce good results in our lives. Consider that the five tools represent the motor for maturity. The Spirit acts as the gasoline, enriching us with power to drive the engine. Both must be present and work in conjunction to each other to create movement.

 

The Spirit is often misunderstood, and Christians are often unclear how it works in their lives in a biblically based way. We can summarize the Christian's relationship to the Spirit in three basic ways:

• Non-variable actions of the Spirit: These include: convicting the world of sin (John 16:9), regeneration to life of new believers (Titus 3:5), indwelling believers from the time of salvation onwards (Ephesians 1:13-14) and praying for believers (Romans 8:26).
• Variable actions of Christians: As believers we can influence our relationship with the Spirit and so we are told not to quench or grieve the Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19 and Ephesians 4:30, respectively) but to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and be filled (mature) in the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
• Variable actions of the Spirit: If the Christian, being indwelt by the Spirit, allows Him to act then the will teach us (I John 2:20,27; John 16:13), put to death the deeds of the flesh, lead us based on the word of God, comfort us that we are His sons and daughters (Romans 8:13-16) and act to empower our lives through the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

It is impossible to overestimate importance of the Spirit in our lives. He has given us new life through our faith in Christ and lives in us permanently, making available the full power of God for us based on his Word to mature us providing the fruit of the Spirit and the enhanced wellbeing of our lives. Indeed, it is the Spirit that fuels the engine of our growth as an obedient Christian to God’s Word.

 

Read more about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives – https://teleiosresearch.com/holy-spirit-power-source-for-the-christian-life/.

 

I hope you come back next Wednesday as we continue this interesting series about the fruits of the Spirit!

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos/

 

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.

 

 

Good Characteristics to Enhance Wellbeing

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog today!

 

We are exploring together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life? Recently, we have been discussing the 5 scriptural tools to maturity (Acts 2:42,47) as a means to build robust Biblically based wellbeing into our lives! Today, with these tools in hand we discuss the results of the process!

 

The fruits of maturing in Christ are multiple and are mentioned throughout the New Testament. Let's begin by focusing on four Bible-based characteristics shown to be beneficial for wellbeing in the medical literature (forgiveness, gratitude, hope, and empathy). To accomplish our goal, we reviewed clinical studies covering these four characteristics in patients from 1966 to present. We included 63 articles in the review. Read the full date here https://teleiosresearch.com/the-effect-of-religion-on-individual-wellbeing/.

 

All four measures evaluated in our study were shown to improve wellbeing, from pre-adolescents to older adults. Further, these measures were associated more specifically with improved social relationships and physical health as well as reduced delinquent behavior.

 

Although our review focused on the effect of four specific measures on the individuals themselves and not on the recipient, we might speculate that any increase in wellbeing among the evaluated individuals could transmit a greater sense of wellbeing to others.

 

The source of the four evaluated parameters also was evaluated and only two primary sources were found!  First, forgiveness, gratitude and empathy could be taught, at least to some degree, through classes or a training module. Hope has not been evaluated in a training module to our knowledge.

 

Second, a person’s religious faith, or their involvement in a community of believers, appeared positively associated with all four evaluated measures. How the measure was developed through religion was not completely clear. We might speculate that forgiveness, gratitude, hope, and empathy were produced through knowledge from the religion’s scriptures, through self-learning or sermons, or through interaction with the faith community. Importantly, almost all articles evaluated in our review were from traditionally Christian countries.

 

Our review suggests that forgiveness, gratitude, hope and empathy may improve general wellbeing, pro-social and positive relational behavior and demonstrate positive health effects. These four measures may be derived from religious instruction and through a faith community. 

 

I hope you come back next Wednesday for another important blog!

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos/

 

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations!

 

Thanks for visiting my blog! 

 

We are discovering what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life? We have been discussing the 5 scriptural tools to maturity (Acts 2:42,47) as a means to build a powerful biblically-based wellbeing. Today, we discuss the 5^th and final tool: outreach to other believers and non-Christians.

 

The first 4 characteristics of the early church (prayer, praise, fellowship, and receiving biblical teaching) were centered around assisting the individual believer and the faith community itself. However, the 5^th principal concerns reaching beyond the established community to those in need, physical or spiritual. This tool was noted in Acts 2:47 ‘And the LORD added to their number daily those who were being saved.’ Since we know that to believe in Christ people have to be told verbally (Romans 10:14), consistent with one of Christ’s last commands on earth to ‘teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 28:19), it is highly probable that those in the first church were telling others about their faith. 

 

Further, the Apostle Paul urges us to teach others individuals in the faith (1 Timothy 4:6,11,16; 2 Timothy 2:25). Even more simply, we are to encourage one another to love and do good works (Hebrews 10:24) and to speak to others according to their need (Ephesians 4:29).

 

Beyond this, we are told to do good and pray for all men, be good citizens (I Timothy 2:1-2; I Peter 2:13-15), work hard and honestly to the glory of God (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; Colossians 3:17), and within the church provide social help to those in need (1 Timothy 5:1-16).

 

Why does scripture tell us to reach out to serve and influence others by teaching our beliefs? We do not know for certain, but we might hypothesize several results of teaching and serving others.

• It takes our mind off ourselves and focuses on someone else's needs. This is most likely healthy for us and gives our minds a rest from ruminating over our own troubles.
• It orients our goals under those of the almighty God and recognizes His purposes are greater than ours. Therefore, our personal troubles are set in proper perspective, providing a balance to our own mental health. 
• It helps build community, both in numbers and maturity, by encouraging a civil and gracious society. 

Outreach and service combine as the last of our 5 tools to maturity. When practiced in balance according to God's Word, these 5 areas will provide you the opportunity to incorporate the wise characteristics in the Bible that were known by the apostles and the first-generation Christians.

 

Join me next week as we begin our discussion of the biblical characteristics that can change your life.

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos/

 

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.

 

Fellowship: A Community of Believers

 

Welcome back! Thanks for visiting my blog!

 

We are discovering together what the Bible says about wellbeing. Otherwise, how can you live a more satisfied, fulfilling life? Recently, we have been discussing the 5 scriptural tools to maturity (Acts 2:42, 47) as a means to build powerful biblically-based wellbeing into our lives! The first three tools were scriptural knowledge, praise and prayer. Today, we discuss fellowship!

 

Fellowship is vital to our Christian walk. It may be best described by the Greek word ‘koinonia’ (the New Testament was originally written in Greek) which speaks of our partnership with fellow Christians in the brotherhood in Christ. The basis of our fellowship is our mutual forgiveness in Christ by grace (1 John1:6-10), and that each of us is placed into the church universal by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). Practically speaking, those of us in the church universal often express our fellowship with those in the local church, church-based small groups, and close Christian friends.

 

How, then, do we have fellowship? Although fellowship ‘lite’ might be merely being in the presence of another Christian, effectual fellowship depends on several biblical standards based on how we think and speak:

1. Careful Reflection - Even before we interact with another Christian we should consider how we can meet their needs; do they need to be encouraged, taught, reminded of scripture, or just to have a quiet and listening friend? This takes a bit of time and prayerful reflection to know how to best help other people and bear their burdens (Ephesians 4:30; Galatians 6:2).
2. Effective Speaking – After reflecting, we need verbally to convey our thinking to our friend or colleague based on their needs and not to satisfy our own emotions (unless we are in desperate straits). Importantly, our speech should be used as a tool for the good of other people to express: gratitude, commendation, encouragement, admonishment and teaching (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:23-24).  

These two steps, used together and sequentially, help assure effectual fellowship with other believers so we can help fortify each other in our faith, push each other on to greater acts of service, and a live a godly lifestyle before our precious Father (Colossians 1:9-10; Hebrews 10:25). Fellowship must be done in balance with the other for tools to maturity.

 

What do young people think about fellowship? See survey results here - https://teleiosresearch.com/what-christians-believe-about-fellowship/.

 

Stay tuned next week as we discuss the final tool - outreach to other believers and non-Christians.

 

William C. Stewart, MD

 

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos/

 

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and or do your own research into the scriptures.