5 Biblical Principles for Daily Life
Here are five principles to help you maintain a spiritual focus and foster healthy relationships.
As Christians, we try our best each day to stay on schedule, accomplish all essential tasks and maintain healthy relationships with those around us. It’s tough sometimes! The day rushes by, and we look back on what we could have done differently. Here are the 5 biblical principles I remember throughout the day to help me stay spiritually grounded amid the hurriedness of daily life.
1. Guard Your God Time
There are hundreds of circumstances that can creep into your day to steal your intentional time with God. For example:
- Children wake up just as you open your Bible
- Phones ring as you consider a powerful scripture verse
- Text messages and reminders pop on your cell phone while you’re deep in prayer
- You suddenly remember an important task you forgot to handle and lose your spiritual focus
- Your alarm clock fails, and you sleep through your personal time with the Lord
It’s tough for everyone! You must guard your God time. Don’t give up. Fight for it. When you suffer a defeat, get back up and think of a better approach. Is there a more reliable time of day? Can you go to bed earlier and get up earlier? Even when you find that optimal time, things can happen. Ask for God’s help. Keep trying.
2. End Conflict Quickly
Making the choice to stop conflict in its initial stages is not easy! It’s one of the most difficult biblical principles. Why? As conflict deepens, we’re overrun with human emotions. Proverbs 17:14 describes strife as the release of rushing water and warns us to walk way from conflict in the earliest stages.
Once contention progresses to strife, we’ve missed the opportunity. It’s like when a stopper pops out of a water barrel. The water forcefully rushes into the open. How easy is it to replace the cork under these circumstances? It’s nearly impossible. The better option? Don’t allow the stopper to dislodge. Don’t tamper with it, and when you realize that you have – stop. It’s much easier said than done, but we know that with faithful prayer and God’s help, we can improve.
3. Be Slow to Speak
We often react emotionally and immediately open our mouths to communicate our reactive thoughts. God advises us to listen carefully and choose our words purposefully. The law of kindness should rule our tongues, and what we say reveals our hearts. If we want to be a light in this world, we must slow our speech to express our minds rather than our reactive emotions.
When we slow our speech, we give ourselves time to process the situation. It helps us see below the surface and choose to allow the Holy Spirit to adjust our reactions. Once we have control of our thoughts, it’s much easier to control our mouths. We can avert an impending conflict entirely when we live this principle.
4. Consider Other Perspectives
In other words, treat others as you want to be treated. We know this as “the Golden Rule,” but many don’t realize that it’s one of the biblical principles Jesus taught in Matthew 7:12.
Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
When we consider another perspective, we think beyond ourselves, thoughts and schedules. We see the person in front of us. A Christian’s basic priorities are God first and others before self.
5. Forgive as God Forgave You
In our daily lives, we experience hurt from family members, spouses, co-workers and children hurt us. Oftentimes, it’s not intentional. As you move through your day, consider whether you’re forgiving transgressions or ignoring them.
It’s wise to forgive small, isolated transgressions. It’s Christ-likeness, meaning that we settle the matter in our hearts but don’t inflate it into a larger issue. People are people. Many times, we must quietly forgive. We can’t call each other out every time our feelings are a little hurt. If we do, we’ll have very tumultuous relationships and unnecessary strife. God says we must forgive and “pass over” these offenses.
However, when we overlook transgressions without forgiving, then we’re just ignoring them. Ignoring a small offense without ensuring we’ve first forgiven leads to bitterness. As these pile up, we’ll likely snap. Rather than freeing our hearts of the weight, we’re harboring each little jab until we can’t handle anymore. Ignoring isn’t healthy or spiritual. Always remember to forgive others as God has continually forgives you.
Remembering these five principles throughout the day will help you maintain a spiritual focus and foster healthy relationships.
