Nurturing: Give It and Receive It

All healthy relationships require nurturing, both from other people and from the Lord God. Nurturing that feeds the soul is driven by deep-seated love and affection. Yet nurturing should be multi-dimensional, given that other people’s needs will vary according to each one’s experience and  personality.

                              

We can become too busy or too guarded to give or receive nurturing meant to strengthen our relationships. Failure to give or receive nurturing can leave you weak and vulnerable to temptation that promised, but failed, to satisfy your need for love and acceptance. Nurturing is giving yourself in ways that fulfill another person.

The Apostle Paul asked, "Don't you know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you received from God?”  Your body here is more than its physical form. Your body contains the very essence of your complete being created by Christ Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit to serve and honor the Lord God and others. 

______________ 

We know that God not only loves you but has selected you for a special purpose. For we remember how our gospel came to you not as mere words, but as a message with power behind it – the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. You know what sort of men we were when we lived among you. You set yourselves to copy us, and indeed, the Lord himself. You remember how, although accepting the message meant serious trouble, yet you experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit.  

~1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 Phillips – New Testament in Modern English 

So continue encouraging one another and helping one another in character building.

~1 Thessalonians 5:11 Williams – New Testament in the Language of the People

______________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.