Balancing the Believers Life – FB video for Tuesday Bible Study

Introduction
Luke 2:52 we see an example of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was the
most perfectly balanced person.  "And Jesus increased in
wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man."  Jesus
Christ grew in these areas.  He grew in wisdom.  That means He
grew intellectually.  He grew in stature.  That means He grew
physically.  He grew in favor with God.  That means He
developed spiritually.  He grew in favor with man.  That means
He developed socially.  He was a perfect picture of balanced
humanity.
Emotional/mental/creative
One way we reflect God’s image is in the things we create. It could
be a banner for a birthday party, an organizational system for a
closet, or a morning routine that works well. It could be knitting or
gardening or cooking. It could be a class or conference that grows
your professional skills, a book that lets you drop into another
world, or a deep conversation with a friend.

In busy seasons, these are the things we tend to drop first—and

that’s not wrong. But if we’re never stretching our brains to find or
bring order and beauty to the world around us, we’re missing part of
the joy of being ourselves.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Or, "Don't let the world squeeze you in its mold.”

 
What are you transformed by? Your willpower?  No.  By
working real hard?  No.  "...by the renewing of your mind." 
What you think about affects your life and you need mental
balance.  The Bible says "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is
he."  We need balance.
 
How do you have balance?  You balance it by screening the
things that come into your mind.  You just don't allow anything
to come into your thought life indiscriminately.  You maintain
balance by choosing what you're going to think about.  Jesus
said, "When you know the truth, the truth will set you free." 
When you fill your mind with truth, you will find freedom in
your lifestyle. Freedom comes by having the right kind of
thoughts.  True thoughts.  Mental balance.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Here we have a picture of a perfect emotionally balanced

person.  These nine qualities are the qualities of emotional
stability.  When you're emotionally stable you're not blown
away by a crisis. 
 
It's a picture of Jesus.  Jesus was love, joy, peace, patience... all
those things wrapped up into one. 
 
Are you an emotionally balanced person?  Do you have a
tendency to worry constantly?  Are you a moody person?  Do
you let your moods go up and down?  Are you mastered by your
moods rather than managing your moods?  Do you get
depressed? 
 
I think emotional balance is a combination of confidence and
contentment.  You're confident and contented and you are
emotionally stable in your life

Spiritual
seek him daily in purposeful Bible reading (Josh. 1:8)
and prayer (Eph. 6:18). Additionally, consider choosing times—in
the car, waiting in a carpool line, before meals—where you can
practice offering a short prayer or going over a memory verse. (It
helps me to think of “stapling my day to God” with these little
moments.) Without his work in our heart, without his renewing of
our minds (Rom. 12:2), we are chasing the wind (Ecc. 1:14).
Praying with and for our loved ones (Eph. 3:14–19). We bear their
burdens (Gal. 6:2), which could be as mundane as strapping on a
clean diaper, going over spelling words, or picking up dry cleaning.
We teach our children the Word of God (Deut. 11:19), which might
look like writing out Bible verses to have in the car, downloading
the New City Catechism  songs to play during breakfast, or reading a
chapter of the Jesus Storybook Bible before bed. We work at home
(Titus 2:4–5), which can look like cleaning the bathroom, making a
meal, or paying the electric bill. And we practice confessing sin to
each other and forgiving each other (James 5:16; Eph. 4:32).
That's part of your personal life.  2 Peter 3:18 says "Grow in
grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ."  You do two things to grow as a Christian:  You grow in
grace and you grow in knowledge of Jesus Christ.  You have
intellectual growth -- you know about the content of the Bible.
You also grow in grace -- that's cultivating an intimate
relationship, and enjoying God.
 
A lot of people grow in knowledge.  They know about God. 
They know the books of the Bible.  They've memorized verses. 
They know who Nebuchadnezzar is.  They know that an epistle
is not the wife of an apostle.  Noah’s wife was not Joan of Ark! 
They know facts, but they don't grow in grace. You've got to
have balance in your spiritual life.

Social
Hebrews tells us not to neglect “meeting together, as is the habit of
some” (Heb. 10:25). Committing to a local body of Christians is not
only a commandment of Scripture (Heb. 13:17), but also good for
our souls as we gain instruction, sanctification, accountability, and
fellowship (Titus 2; 1 Tim. 4:16; Matt. 18:15–18).
The more time and energy we spend stewarding our gifts to serve
God’s people—by bringing a meal, stopping by for a visit, offering
a ride, sending a card, writing a check—the more we’ll be invested
in the bride he loves (1 Pet. 4:10–11; Gal. 6:10; Eph. 5:25–27).
Certainly, the amount we can do depends on our seasons and
circumstances. But it’s worth asking, What does my church need?
What can I give?
I'm talking about your relationships.  You can have everything
right in your life and if your relationships are lousy, well…life
stinks.  You can be a millionaire, you can be popular, you can be
well known and successful, but if you've got people that you're
at odds with, life is tough.  So you need social balance in your
life.
 
Romans 12:16
Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low
estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Or, "Live in harmony with one another."  I looked up the word

"balance" in Webster's dictionary.  It says the definition is this,
"When all of the parts are in harmony."  When all of your
relationships are in harmony, there is social balance. 
 
I can't impress on you enough the importance of this balance. 
 
Article from Readers' Digest called "Seven Secrets of Peak
Performance":  Dr. Charles Garfield is the professor of the
University of California Medical School in San Francisco.  He's
the head of a research institute called Peak Performance Center.
They studied 1500 outstanding achievers in all walks of life --
business, athletics, education, every area of life.  They were
looking for common denominators.  What is it that makes the
difference between a person who's a super success and another
person who tries their best but they just get mediocre results? 
What's the difference?  Are there any characteristics, or common
denominators of peak performance people?
 
Yes, there are seven of them.  The number one characteristic of
the top achievers in the world is that they lead a well-rounded
life. They're balanced.  High achievers, we often hear, are
extremists. They spend all their time on one thing.  Garfield says
that's a misconception.  High performers, in contrast, are willing
to work hard but within strict limits.  For them, work is not
everything. When Garfield interviewed top executives in ten
major industries he found that they knew how to relax, they
could leave their work at the office, they prized close friends and
family life, and they spent a healthy amount of time with their
children and intimates.  They were balanced.
 
Another article from June, 1985 issue of Success magazine: 
A doctor, for the past 26 years, studied 5000 professional men
and women.  Since 1959, he interviewed these 5000 people at
least twice a year.  He's written two books -- one about men and
the other about women.  He talks about how women who
sacrificed their personal life for a career are imbalanced.
 
        The interviewer asks, "You say that ambitious women have
been sold a bill of goods?  How?"
 
        His Answer:  "They have been told that life is a choice
between a career and a satisfying personal life, but my study
over 26 years found that to be hogwash.  The woman who pours
herself into her career and shelves her personal life eventually
suffers in her career."
 
        The whole article talks about this principle of balance.  At
the end the interviewer says, "Basically what you're saying is
that anytime, any one part of your life becomes all important,
everything, including that part, crumbles."
 
        Answer:  "That's an astonishing find in its own way
because ever since we were children we've been told to
concentrate single-mindedly and to keep ourselves focused."
 
Balanced living.  Balance in your personal life. 

Physical
Our physical bodies belong to God twice over—given at birth and
redeemed at the cross (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Caring for ourselves, then,
is an act of worship and of submission—in it, we acknowledge that
we aren’t the boss of ourselves. As hard as we push, we just don’t
operate as well when we aren’t getting enough healthy food, regular
exercise, or seven-to-nine hours of sleep a night. Thanks to God for
both his special revelation (Ex. 34:21) and his general revelation
that tell us this truth.
God knows our limits; he gave them to us on purpose. One of his
clearest directives is to practice a sabbath (Ex. 20:9–11), a weekly,
intentional pausing in our work—leaving some undone—to remind
us that we aren’t able to do it all.
Spend 20 minutes on household chores daily.

These chores may be on the inside of the house or the outside taking care of yard and plants.
If I work a little bit every day on those chores, they aren’t such big mountains when the
weekend comes.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye
have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Do you glorify God in your body?  We need physical balance. 

When we don't take care of our bodies, it affects everything
else.  You have to ask yourself:  Am I constantly complaining
about being tired?  "I'm so tired...I'm sick and tired of being sick
and tired."  There's a way out.  You maintain physical balance.
 
Peanuts Cartoon:  Lucy is playing baseball.  She's running out
into the outfield and saying, "I've got it!  I've got it!" and the ball
flies over her head and plunks down right behind her. She's
standing there with her hand open.  She throws the ball back to
Charlie Brown who's standing on the mound and says, "Sorry
about that, manager.  My body just doesn't seem to want to do
what my brain tells it to."  Charlie Brown says, "I can
understand that--my body and my brain haven't spoken to each
other in years." 
 
Physical balance.  Get your life in shape.  Get it all together. 
 
Some of you say, "I could never get in shape.  I'm too old.  You
can't teach an old dog new tricks."  I say, it's never too late to
change! 
 
Article by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the man who invented aerobics: 
He tells the story of a lady who was 46 years old and came to
him. She had back pains that were so terrible that she could not
walk further than 75 feet without having to sit down.  She was
stooped over and couldn't stand up.  As a result, it killed all of
her social life, all of her outings.  She was in constant pain and
disability.  When she came to Dr. Cooper, he advised that she
have back surgery but she said, no, she wanted to try something
else.  She began to walk on a treadmill.  She found that when
she put the treadmill at a certain angle she could walk without
being in pain for about 25 seconds.  So she began to walk on the
treadmill several times a day.  Soon she found she could lower
the treadmill more and more until finally she was walking on a
flat surface without any pain for the first time in months.  Next
she started to do some slow jogging with her walking routine.
Eventually she began jogging continuously from 3 miles to 5
miles to 10 miles at each outing.  Today, this old woman has run
9 marathons with her best time being 3 hours and 3 minutes, a
great time for any woman or man of any age.  You can change if
you want to. 

Conclusion
ow do you get started in balancing your life?
 
STEP #1:  Take Inventory
 
Look at your life.  Say, "Where am I in balance?  Where am I
out of balance?"  Look at yourself.  Evaluate it.  Do a self-
examination.  Have a spiritual, mental, emotional, social,
physical check-up and evaluate your lifestyle.  Proverbs is
saying it's wise to analyze.  Socrates said, "The unexamined life
is not worth living." 
 
How do you avoid coming to the end of your life saying, "If
only..."  Do it by stopping in the middle of life and analyzing it,
looking at it, evaluating and saying, "Where am I out of
balance?  What's missing?" 
 
Do you remember the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15?  The
prodigal son went out and spent all of his money, had a good
time with wine, women and song, but he ran out of his
inheritance and ends up living in a pigsty eating pig food.  In
Luke 15:17 there's the turning point in his life.  It says this:  "He
came to himself."  He said, "What am I doing here?  I'm going to
go home."
 
Have you done that?  Have you come to your senses?  Have you
said, "I'm not going to waste the rest of my life?  I'm going to
make it count.  I'm going to get my life in balance."  This is the
season to get in balance -- socially, mentally, physically,
spiritually, emotionally -- all of these areas.  I challenge you, as
homework this week, go home and do a personal check-up from
the neck up, and down! 
 
Ask yourself:  "Mental balance.  Am I mentally sharper than I
was five years ago?  If not, why not?  What am I going to do
about it?"  I know a lot of Christians who are mentally flabby.
They turn on the TV, put their mind in neutral and watch the
boob tube.  Leaders are readers!
 
How about physical balance?  "Am I always complaining of a
lack of energy?"  Am I always fatigued?  Do I pay no regard to
what I eat or how I exercise or how much sleep I get.  Do I
disregard my physical condition totally.  Am I going to do
anything about it?  Am I a workaholic or do I take time off for
physical restoration? 
 
        How about spiritual balance?  Is my first reaction to a
problem to pray, or do I usually use that as a last resort?  Do I
take time for God?  Do I trust Him?  Do I really know Him?  Do
I read the Bible on a regular basis?  Am I a “duty” Christian,
still just Sunday morning only?  Am I choosing to grow
spiritually? 
 
        Emotional.  Do I worry a lot?  Am I a moody person?  Am
I mastered by my moods?  Do I loose my temper at the slightest
little thing?  Am I irritable?  Do I get depressed easily? 
 
        Social balance.  Who can I count on as a genuine friend?
Who can count on me as a genuine friend?  Proverbs says to
have friends you must show yourself friendly!
 
I encourage you to ask your mate to evaluate you, or your s.s.
teacher or Pastor.  Now we're getting serious!  The fact is, all of
us have blind spots.  I think I'm in balance.  You think you're in
balance.  We all do. But other people say, "That guy is
imbalanced!" 
 
The Bible says there is safety and wisdom in a multitude of
counselors.  So when in doubt, check it out.  Ask your spouse
how you're doing -- emotionally, physically, spiritually,
mentally. Get a second opinion.
 
STEP #2  Write Down A Plan Of Action 
 
We plan every other area of our lives except our personal life.
Balance does not come by accident.  You've got to work at it. It's
not automatic.  You plan and set goals and say specifically what
you're going to do. 
 
Ephesians 5:15
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

Don't be foolish in the way you use your time.  Be careful. 

Analyze it.  "Make the most of every opportunity."  How do you
make the most of every opportunity?  By planning for it. By
preparing for it.  When opportunity comes, you're ready for it. 
You develop a plan of action.  Don’t just prioritize your
schedule—SCHEDULE your priorities!  Write down the plan of
action.
 
One of the things that make balance in your life is habits.  We
are creatures of habit.  We need to break bad habits, start new
ones, because that's part of getting in balance -- getting rid of the
bad habits and developing new ones. 
 
But you can't do it on your own.  Will power is not enough. 
You need more. 
 
STEP #3  Establish Christ At The Center Of Your Life
 
Ill.—Wheel, spokes, and hub.
Don’t compartmentalize your spiritual life.  Don’t take this
lesson on balance and try to use it to rationalize God being in
balance, or just having a measure of Him.
 
Just like a wheel has to have a hub, your life has to have
something to center on. You will always be out of balance until
you get something -- one thing -- that your life centers on.  You
can center it on making money, but that will get you out of
balance.  You can center it on retiring and recreation, but that
will get you out of balance.
In a wheel, all the power comes through at the point of the hub
and then it's distributed out to the differing spokes that turn the
wheel. Likewise, in your life, when you put Christ in the center
of your life, the power comes through that and goes out to all of
these other areas and gives you balance.  That's why the Bible
says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness..." and all of these things will be brought into
focus, into balance.
 
Sometimes I hear someone say, "I have a problem. My life is
falling apart."  How do you put a life that is falling apart back
together?  What holds it together?  I asked the person, "Would
you like to know the glue that would put your life together?"  
Colossians 1:15
Who is the image of the invisible God…

You don't see God.  That's why He sent Jesus so you could see
Him. 
Colossians 1:16-17
16 
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were
created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. [glue!]

If your life is falling apart, it's because Jesus Christ is not at the
center to hold all things together.  Put Him at the center and
watch Him pull it back together.  Think about an atom with a
nucleus of protons and neutrons swirling around and on the
outside electrons swirling around it. What holds the atom
together?  Jesus Christ.  He holds all things together in the world
and in your life.  Bring Him any broken pieces in your life and
see how He can miraculously put it all together!
The bottom line in finding balance--Jesus Christ wants to
be the center of your life.  You can start over, you can have a
new beginning, you can have a clean slate and get your personal
life in balance.

Possible scriptures
 Ecclesiastes 3: 1: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the
heavens:

 Does this scripture give you grace in the balance? Does it help you see how important
it is to live one day at a time and to balance the good with the bad, the hard with the
easy. List the things in your life that were hard and how they changed in the next
season. How does this help you today with the hard things?

 Isaiah 28:24: When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on

breaking up and working the soil?

 If you kept reading this passage, the answer is no, of course not! The farmer plows
the field, prepares the soil and then plants the seed. What have you been so focused
on doing, working, that you haven’t noticed that you need to stop that and plant
some seeds? Where will you sow seeds of love, joy, peace, and grace today?

 Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a
tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important
matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter,
without neglecting the former.”

 What is the balance Jesus is talking about in this verse? How does it apply to your
life?

 Micah 6:8: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of
you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly  with your God.
a]

 This is where heaven and earth meet. How balanced is your faith in light of this
verse?

Deuteronomy 15:10: Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then

because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put
your hand to.

 This scripture is about the blessing and balance of giving cheerfully and working
diligently. Have you given to someone hoping God would bless you while you sat on
your hands? Do you think this verse still applies today? Why?

Luke 10:40:  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She
came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by
myself? Tell her to help me!”

 The balance. We need to work, eat, and serve, but we also need to sit at His feet.
Jesus said, “Mary has chosen the good portion and it will not be taken away from
her.” Make some extra time for Jesus today.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/6-marks-healthy-
life/
https://wordsbyandylee.com/7-scriptures-on-balance-in-our-
lives/
https://www.gbcdecatur.org/sermons/NewBalance.html