Belief in God Improves Response to Treatment for Depression
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 8:12 AM


The "Big Man Upstairs" is getting accolades from mental health specialists who say they are finding that a belief in God plays a positive role in the treatment of anxiety and depression.

University of Toronto psychologists reported last year that "believing in God can help block anxiety and minimize stress," their research showcasing "distinct brain differences" between believers and nonbelievers.

A new study by Rush University Medical Center in Chicago takes the idea a step further.

In patients diagnosed with clinical depression, "belief in a concerned God can improve response to medical treatment," said the new research, which has been published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

The operative term here is "caring," the researchers said. "The study found that those with strong beliefs in a personal and concerned God were more likely to experience an improvement."

The researchers compared the levels of melancholy or hopelessness in 136 adults diagnosed with major depression or bipolar depression with their sense of "religious well-being." They found participants who scored in the top third of a scale charting a sense of religious well-being were 75 percent more likely to get better with medical treatment for clinical depression.

"In our study, the positive response to medication had little to do with the feeling of hope that typically accompanies spiritual belief," said study director Patricia Murphy, a chaplain at Rush and an assistant professor of religion, health, and human values.

"It was tied specifically to the belief that a Supreme Being cared," she said.

"For people diagnosed with clinical depression, medication certainly plays an important role in reducing symptoms," Murphy added. "But when treating persons diagnosed with depression, clinicians need to be aware of the role of religion in their patients' lives. It is an important resource in planning their care."

Public opinion polls - from Gallup to the Pew Research Center - reveal that large majorities of Americans believe in God. It is a factor among the researchers as well.

Data released last year by sociologists from the University of California at Berkeley, in fact, revealed that 93 percent of the nation believes in God, a finding that has remained unchanged since 1988.

The Canadian researchers who found that belief in God lowers anxiety and stress also based their conclusions on measurements - monitoring the brain activities of believers and nonbelievers charged with some challenging tasks.

"We found that religious people or even people who simply believe in the existence of God show significantly less brain activity in relation to their own errors," said Michael Inzlicht, assistant psychology professor at the University of Toronto, who led the research.

"They're much less anxious and feel less stressed when they have made an error," he said.

After reading a very important message on a blog today on True Tales of a MiniVan Mama, I decided to write this blog post to show my direction and appreciation. Thank you Jenn, you always seem to find the right words to say when I am feeling upside down.
So here goes......







My Family, my gift.

I have basically disappeared from the online world because my life did not feel balance, it felt empty, and yes very very lonely.

I, like so many others share your feelings across the board. I needed to be validated I needed to feel like I have touched lives and did something important with the outside world.

I have pushed aside my husband, children, my extended family, even my pets and home for what I thought was important to me.

What I didn't realize was that this had a long going effect on me. I realized when reading your blog post, how I have also been selfish.

When we do things for ourselves and not through God we actually lose happiness, peace, and relationships instead of gaining validation. It feels so empty and unfulfilled.

Think about it, what means more to you? Validation from your close family members or a stranger online?

Thank you Jenn, for exposing yourself to the world as a fake. I say this in the kindest way for I am a fake as well. I have been a fake to God, my family, and myself.
Thank you Jenn for having the courage to pour your heart out here. You have again been validated here while not trying to be. You have helped one more person steer back to God's way and to put more time, love, into my family where it belongs and is needed.

I say goodbye to putting anything online first. I say goodbye to putting myself first and to reaching out to my children and husband again.

Life is way too short, I know this better than most. It's time to make lasting impressions, strong ties, and put caring committed time back to the relationships that matter to God and to me most.

My time will come when my children have grown. We can do with out luxuries, we can do without a vacation if needed. We can not however do without our family.

I thank God for last night he put me in the hearts of other people again. He surrounded me with people I can connect with in real life. He steered me to read this post this morning to show me that what i have been feeling all along has been right on target and has been him talking to be and weighing on my conscious to wake up and smell the roses he planted for us. I am grateful.

This poem was shared to me and I was so touched by it, I had to share it further. I question at times why God allows us to suffer, feel pain, have hardships etc.....  I feel this answers those questions. 

GOD Said NO

I sit here this morning looking back on my life. Realizing I made a lot of mistakes but no matter what the mistakes were, I am still a child of God and he loves me. I am still worth my weight in Gold to him. It is those thoughts that get me through the hard times.

Right now my family struggles with major damage on our property. We heard the worse from the insurance company....we are only covered a small portion. Too long of a story to go into but we feel like we have been robbed to a degree. As sad and as angry as I was over this, I stopped and talked to God last night. I prayed for him to help me understand all this, to free my heart from hurting and worrying about any of it. I asked him to make me very aware that these are only material things and how thankful I am to have my family and friends and with him, I am going to be just fine. I woke up this morning feeling so much better. Yes, I am sad when I look at all we have lost, but through hard work, hopefully good friends, we will not have lost it all. God gave me hope today.

It is hope within us that drives and makes life worth living. If we didn't have hope, all would be dismal. I thank God that he showed me where to seek hope and to believe in him and the wonderful things he can do.

So many times in my life I ignored that he was right there beside me, I ignored the hope he was showing me. I didn't realize it had come from him. Now I see with eyes wiser and more open all that he gives me each day. I am truly blessed to have Jesus in my life, my heart, my family. I am truly blessed to now be able to see situations for what they are. They are not the end of the world if I follow his lead, I believe, and I have hope.

Why do I discuss hope today? Because I believe when I was in an abusive situation I never saw hope, I only saw the dark days of living with a violent man who I detested. I only saw day after day being trapped and having to live a life I hated. I saw only my two babies as my saving grace. But I also saw the stress that having two children in this situation caused.

It wasn't until I finally reached out to a support group and found Carol. She was my saving grace, she was my mentor, friend, and the one person who allowed me to see again. She gave me hope for a life better than what I had. One that was more deserving, one that was filled with ups and downs but it was my own again. I could be who I wanted to be. I would be free.

If you feel you do not have hope......reach out to someone who can help. Don't wait, do it today. It will be the best decision you have ever made. You can dream and you can do....take a step forward and give yourself some hope again!

As an adult and a Christian I find myself in a situation that has me desturbed.

I have a wonderful dear friend that I love with all my heart. She is like a sister to me. She is 11 years younger than I and I find I often look at the old me through her. I see what I was and what I am now. Not that she is a bad person but she is lost. She has receintly been divorced, has two younger children, and is struggling to even survive as a single Mom.

I find myself more often than not offering opinions and advice regarding how she is living her life. I probably should just mind my own business and let her figure it out like I had to do. No one was there for me when I was going through some of the same issues she struggles with now. Is it really better to have someone to bounce things off of or is it better to let them figure it all out?

I have watched my friend jump from man to man trying to find what she seeks in a partner. She breaks up with one and than finds herself back with another from her past, leaves that one and ends up with a new one, goes back to an old one....the cycle goes on.

Receintly she has met a 17 year old boy online. It is extremely dangerous situation that I really struggle with. She seems to really love this boy. He feels the same towards her.

I watch the two of them as we play an online game together and they are joyfully happy together. Blissfully happy. But she is searching for the relationship that takes her away from her struggles. He is searching for the relationship that takes him away from a neglectful family. She is a beautiful young looking intelligent woman who has so much going for her except she is very insecure and suffers from the "please everyone syndrome" He is a highly intelligent boy with a charismatic personality, romantic, funny, charming, but still his age shows through in his actions at times. I am surprised at the wisdom this child has for his years. He holds more wisdom in 17 years than most men in 45 years. It's scary. I can understand how the two became attracted to each. they also both have a very quirky sense of fun about them. They do and say crazy things together and laugh the night away.

My problem is the age difference and the fact that the boy is under 21. What would you do when you see that two people fit so well together but morally it seems extremely wrong to me. How do I still be there for my friend when what I see her doing could jeopardize her children and her life? What would you do?

 I came across this website and in my own mind have often wondered this question myself. I believe this article strengthens my beliefs. What do you think?

 

Claims: What did Jesus Christ have to say about himself?

Is Jesus Christ a Legend, Lunatic, Liar, or Lord and GOD?

In his famous book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis makes this statement, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.(emphasis: web author)"
Jesus could only have been one of four things: a legend, a liar, a lunatic--or Lord and God. There is so much historical and archeological evidence to support his existence that every reputable historian agrees he was not just a legend. If Jesus were a liar, why would he die for his claim, when he could easily have avoided such a cruel death with a few choice words? And, if he were a lunatic, how did he engage in intelligent debates with his opponents or handle the stress of his betrayal and crucifixion while continuing to show a deep love for his antagonists? Christ said he was Lord and God. The evidence supports that claim.
Here are some of the key claims Jesus made about himself.

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The Claims of Jesus

Christ claimed to live a sinless life

Jesus could look at a crowd of people angry at his claims to share God's nature and ask, "Which of you can point to anything wrong in my life?" Even more amazing is that none of them could give a reply! No human being has ever lived a sinless life, except for Jesus Christ.
John 8:28-29 "So Jesus said, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know who I am and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.'"
John 8:46-47 "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

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Jesus Christ claimed to be the ONLY way to God

Not one of several ways, but the one and only way. Not to teach the way, but to be the way to God. Nobody has ever made claims like that before and backed them, but Jesus did through his love, balanced life, and miracles.
John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me."
Matthew 11:27 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
Note: No other world religious leader, such as Buddha, Confucius, or Mohammed ever made this claim.

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Christ claimed to have shared the glory of God in Heaven

Jesus claimed to have pre-existed the people he spoke with. The apostle John--who shared bread with Jesus--wrote that Jesus was with God in the very beginning, and that "all things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being." (John 1:1-5)
John 17:5 "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began."
This is a claim distorted by groups like the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses.

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Jesus Christ claimed to be able to forgive sins

One of the reasons that the Jewish leaders were so angry with Jesus was his continual practice of forgiving people's sins. The religious leaders understood clearly that since sins were rebellion against God Himself, only God could forgive sins.
Luke 5:20-21 "When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven.' The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, 'Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?'"(emphasis: web author)
Luke 7:48-49 "Then Jesus said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' The other guests began to say among themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?'"

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Christ claimed to be a Heavenly king

Luke 22:69 "But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."
Luke 23:1-3 "Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, 'We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.' So Pilate asked Jesus, 'Are you the king of the Jews?' 'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied."
John 18:36-37 "Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.' 'You are a king, then!' said Pilate. Jesus answered, 'You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'"

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Christ claimed to be able to give everlasting life

Jesus didn't just tell people how they could find everlasting life, or deepen their own life experience. He actually claimed to give life himself.
John 6:40 "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 6:47 "I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life."
John 10:28-30 "I give [my followers] eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
John 11:25 "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die...'"

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Jesus claimed that he would die and come back to life

John 10:17 "Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life--only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
John 12:32-33 "'But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.' He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die."
John 16:16 "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
Luke 18:31-33 "Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, 'We are going up into Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.'"

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Christ claimed that he would return again to judge the world

Matthew 24:27-30 "So as the lightening comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man... At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."
Matthew 25:31-32 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep and the goats."
Mark 14:61-62 "Again the high priest asked him, 'Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?' 'I am,' said Jesus. 'And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.'"
Jesus clearly claimed to be both God and Messiah.

I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Corinthians 11:3)
“Submission is a key element in the smooth functioning of any business, government, or family. God ordained submission in certain relationships to prevent chaos. It’s essential to understand that submission is not surrender, withdrawal, or apathy. It doesn’t mean inferiority, because God created all people in his image and because all have equal value. Submission is mutual commitment and cooperation.
“Thus God calls for submission among equals. He didn’t make the man superior; he made a way for the man and woman to work together. Jesus Christ, although equal with God the Father, submitted to him to carry out the plan for salvation. Likewise, although equal to man under God, the wife should submit to her husband for the sake of their marriage and family. Submission between equals is submission by choice, not by force. We serve God in these relationships by willingly submitting to others in our church, to our spouses, and to our government leaders.” (Commentary from the New Life Application Bible)  This paragraph was borrowed from Marriage Missions International


Does this not speak mountains? Christians alike have thought and have had the notion that God expects women especially to be subservient to their husbands. This is not the case at all. Submission can also be described as sitting down at a table and discussing, calmly, the decisions needed in a family or partnership. When agreements are hard to come by on a subject, it is listening to each other and working out a compromise that is beneficial to all. Don't ever let anyone make you subservient by force. This is not living, this is not what God wanted for you. 

Christian love vs. being a doormat!

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 by Jan Koester
It’s 10:30 Saturday evening and Susan’s phone rings. Wanting to ignore it, she lets it ring four times, then out of guilt picks it up. “Hi, how are you? This is Pat,” a woman’s voice announces. Before Susan can respond, Pat continues, “Hon, I know this is asking a lot, but could you pick me up at the bus station and drive me home? I just got in from San Diego.”
“Do you have the money for a taxi?” Susan asks. “If I have to,” Pat responds. “But you know, Christmas is only a month away, and I really need to conserve . . .”
Susan, already worn out, still has work to do on a junior high Sunday school lesson she has to teach. The bus station is twenty minutes away, and Pat’s home is on the other side of town. By the time she’d get back she’d have no energy left to prepare. Besides, Pat has taken advantage of her more times than Susan can remember.
Susan would like to tell Pat she has neither the time nor the energy to come for her. And, when she can collect herself, she would like to speak honestly with Pat about her presumptuousness. Yet Susan remembers Jesus’ admonition to go the second mile. “Isn’t this clearly a situation where I need to bend for someone else?” she wonders. “Wouldn’t confronting Pat violate Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek? Doesn’t God require me to deny myself for Pat’s sake?”
The Ongoing Question
To assert yourself or not to do so? To stand up for yourself or go along with someone else’s wishes? We struggle with this issue often as Christians. For Susan, the question is whether to cave in to a friend’s unreasonable expectations. Like her, we each face situations where people try to take advantage of us-occasions when friends expect too much of us, for instance, or when someone in business tries to exploit us. The sensitive Christian wonders, “Should I stand up for my rights–or is it more Godly to give in?”
In other cases our concern isn’t with standing up for our rights but with whether to express ourselves straightforwardly. Should I speak up and say what I’m thinking in this class? Should I tell her how much I care for her? Should I share my faith with him? Should I state my qualifications confidently in this job interview?
Many of us are uncomfortable asserting ourselves in some situations, and some of us are uneasy doing so in any setting. One problem may be that we are shy or feel awkward with people. We fear we’ll fail in our attempt to be outspoken and experience unbearable embarrassment. Learning how to confront and manage our fears is a major step forward in becoming more assertive. We need to strive, too, for greater optimism about our possibilities for success.
Yet we’re often hindered as well by misconceptions about biblical teaching. We assume that being assertive implies behavior that is patently un-Christian: demanding our rights, trampling over the needs of others and feeling the freedom to blow our lid whenever we feel like it.
Healthy Assertiveness
Most writers and teachers who promote assertiveness have two goals. One is to help individuals “own” their own lives–to break free of the control of others’ expectations and to stay in control of their emotions when they speak. If I ventilate anger at others, for example, it suggests that I’m not being freely assertive but am letting their expectations control me, for I’ve allowed them to upset me. Owning my own life is more likely reflected in my responding calmly, even politely to them. Thus the feisty Manuel J. Smith, author of a best-selling book on assertiveness, devotes a surprising portion to helping readers learn to accept criticism graciously and nondefensively.*
The other aim of assertiveness training is to encourage individuals to take initiative to express their convictions and concerns honestly to others. Such self-expression shouldn’t be at the wholesale expense of others’ feelings; indeed, assertiveness is most effective when exercised with empathy and compassion. Still, expressing yourself is important. It contributes not only to your own well-being and productivity but to the quality of your relationships as well.
When defined this way, assertiveness is not incompatible with Paul’s instruction to speak the truth in love to each other in Ephesians 4:15. There, he clearly admonishes Christians to be assertive, at least within certain boundaries.
Still, we may be more inclined to think of the boundaries than of the freedom or mandate implied in any biblical teaching on assertiveness. And the notion of owning our life, at the heart of assertiveness training, seems to fly in the face of what we’ve long been taught–that we must sacrifice our interests for others’ needs. Can such unselfishness possibly reconcile with owning our life?
Owning Your Own Life
In fact it can, and the two concepts go hand in hand in Scripture. In the biblical understanding, I am called to give myself to another’s needs as an act of free will. It’s this free-choice aspect of my decision to help another that makes it a true response of Christian compassion. Yet I can only give myself freely if I own my life in the first place.
It’s in this spirit that Paul declares, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible” (1 Cor 9:19 NIV). Here and elsewhere Paul emphasizes about equally his cherished liberty as a child of Christ and his deliberate decision to invest his life for the sake of others. Because he is free to begin with, he can make the choice to sacrifice for others from compassion and healthy motivation.
Whenever the Scriptures instruct us to give ourselves to others’ needs, in fact, the assumption that we must first own our life is implicit. We see it in various descriptions of Jesus himself. He was able to wash his disciples’ feet, for instance, because of his strong sense of identity (Jn 13:4-5).
We find it, too, where we might least expect it–in Jesus’ teaching about turning the other cheek in his Sermon on the Mount. There he cautions against a retributive spirit and mentions three occasions where we should give double compliance to an aggressor:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Mt 5:38-42 NIV)
It might seem that Jesus was exhorting us to be a doormat to others’ aggression and abuse, and many Christians have taken his teaching in exactly this way. This is certainly the last thing Jesus meant. Rather, by urging double compliance, he was telling us to take control of an unjust situation.
By choosing to walk a second mile with someone, instead of the single mile they demand, I demonstrate that I am deciding for myself what my response will be. From this angle, going the second mile and turning the other cheek are profoundly assertive acts. Such double compliance also aims to have two redemptive effects on the other person. It shows him I will not let him manipulate me, and perhaps erases his desire to do so. It also shames him for his decision to take advantage of me.
Considering the Outcome
This perspective is truly liberating, for it suggests that if turning the other cheek will not affect another redemptively, or will result in someone’s harm, I’m not expected to respond in this way. Certain Christian men during the Russian revolution who stood by and allowed soldiers to rape their wives, believed they were fulfilling Jesus’ requirement for passivity yet seriously misunderstood his intent.
Numerous unjust situations occur where we benefit no one by complying with the injury or by rolling over and playing dead. A woman whose husband abuses her helps neither him nor herself by allowing him to treat her cruelly.
In the same way, I am usually kidding myself if I think that any positive Christian witness results from allowing someone in a modern business situation to cheat me financially. An impersonal climate exists in most business transactions today that renders turning the other cheek ineffective.
If a car dealership performs shoddy repairs on my car, for instance, I help no one in their spiritual journey by choosing not to complain. Employees won’t likely connect my silence with my Christian convictions. The proper Christian response in this case is to point out the problem to them and to calmly but persistently insist that they make the proper repair–for by doing so, I’m denting their conviction that they can take advantage of their customers.
Does the Shoe Fit?
I also doubt that Jesus meant to lay the mandate of turning the other cheek upon all believers at all stages in their spiritual development. He gave this instruction to his “disciples” (Mt 5:1)–that is, to those who were at a stage of growth where they were ready to respond to others at this level.
Not once in the Gospels, for instance, did Jesus preach self-denial or the need for noble sacrifice to someone who was physically or emotionally ill. Instead–and without exception–he healed the sick or needy person and did not immediately lay the burden of moving mountains upon him or her. It was to those who were well, in body and mind, that Jesus urged self-denial. They were able to give themselves to others for his sake because they had a self to give.
There is, in short, a developmental process in becoming assertive that accords fully with biblical teaching. Turning the other cheek is the ideal. Yet we must be honest with ourselves about whether we’re ready to do it in a healthy manner. If you’re shy, you’ve probably found it difficult to stand up for yourself and to make independent decisions. Allow yourself time to grow and to learn to own your life more fully. Then, when you can truly do it freely, be open to those special instances when Christ may call you to turn the other cheek. Focus first upon becoming more assertive, as part of taking responsible stewardship of your life as a Christian.
One other point is helpful to keep in mind in turning-the-other-cheek situations. As my friend Omar Omland points out in his inspiring book The Third Mile, Jesus spoke of double compliance in certain situations, but never of triple compliance.** While he encouraged the second mile, he didn’t necessarily recommend a third. There may be limits, then, to how fully he expects us to sacrifice in order to help someone. In every case the vital matter is that we give ourselves freely. We’re called first to own our life, then to respond to others’ needs in light of the energy God gives us and the priorities he lays upon us.

Hello friends.

In the new year I am going to be spotlighting a women each month that has survived abuse. You will hear her story, the hurts, the pain, the revelations, the breaking free, the liberty of living your own life the way God intended us to with dignity.

I will feature their business if they have one. Please stop by often and read our heartbreaking and uplifting stories.

If you have a story to share, please leave a comment below and I will contact you. If you would like to remain anonymous I will be happy to change all identifying information. You could really help another who may not be free yet. God Bless and I pray he opens your heart and minds to sharing your stories with others.

Promote yourself, but do not demote another.

Israel Salanter once stated this phrase: Promote yourself, but do not demote another. Very wise words.


Mr. Salanter had a very good point. Promoting yourself is natural and you should absolutely do this. It is ok to toot your own horn on occasion or whenever you need too (business). But to promote yourself at the expense of another is simply not Christian like. Hurting someone else on purpose just to make yourself look better is not of a pure heart. There is evil lurking behind these actions. Stop and think before you promote yourself are you putting someone else down? If so, don't proceed!


Same goes for personal relationships, not just business. Does your spouse or partner continually brag about themselves and show you ways that you just don't measure up to them? If so, this is emotional abuse. You deserve and have the right to be treated with respect and dignity. You have the God Given Right to be loved and appreciated. Don't ever stand for someone promoting themselves at your expense. 


If you have a violent partner, I would suggest not making an issue but you should be working on your escape plan as soon as possible! There is help everywhere! There is help right here if you need it, just visit www.jesusdaygifts.com and look for our links and info to help you get out safely now!


God Bless and Happy Promoting in a Christian manner.

Starting January 1st thru the 7th we will begin the Celebration of Life Week

What to expect from us each day?
- 2 reasons per day of why you should be celebrating your life.
- 2 Inspirational messages
- 2 Scripture passages of gratitude
- 2 Tips for receiving help on how to get safe!
- 1 New featured product from our online gift store each day

Join in the celebration, register with our site, subscribe to our feed and win a fabulous prize to be awarded on January 8th, 2010!

Having Christ as the center of every relationship you have will make a world of difference. This section of the blog will encourage you in your relationships with those you love.