The goal of this blog is to encourage other moms (and myself) to relentlessly replace “me” from the center of my world with “God”. To serve my family in humility, placing God’s plans above my own.

How do we place God in the center of our lives? What does that really, realistically look like?

I’m going to be doing a mini-series this week (“Replacing ‘me’ with ‘He'”) discussing some basics of how we start this journey of humility. Outlining the specifics of what we need to put in place to begin to see change in our days with our families.

First of all, in order to be “God-centered” we need to be spending time with God. If you have been in the church for awhile you may be rolling your eyes. You’ve heard the terms “quiet time” & “devotions”. Maybe those words make you feel guilty. You feel that you are a “bad” Christian if you don’t wake up early and sit down pray, read your Bible, and journal. If you can’t make that happen, you don’t even try. Perhaps you feel like a failure.

Relationship vs. Religion

What if you view “spending time with God” in relationship terms instead of religious terms?

Do you enjoy spending time with your husband? Do you like to go out with your girlfriends? Is there someone you call or text each day to find out how they are doing? Who do you go to when you just need to share your good news or bad news?

Perhaps we make our time with God too “religious” and not relational. At the heart of Christianity is relationship. The trinity. God the Father. Christ the Son. Placing trust in Christ’s sacrifice for us (“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:8).

The Holy Spirit is an essential part of our spiritual life.  God’s power in us. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26).

In order for the Holy Spirit to work through us we must “live by the Spirit…walk by the Spirit.” (Gal 5:25). If we don’t focus on our spiritual life and our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit, He can’t work through us. We won’t see the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22).

Rhythm vs. Discipline

Why is it so hard for us to develop our spiritual lives?

It doesn’t come naturally. It is learned. Practiced. Our natural bent is toward self-centeredness. If you aren’t a disciplined person, structure may seem overwhelming.

What if you don’t enjoy doing things the same way twice? What if you don’t have a routine or schedule to your day?

Instead of focusing on the discipline, maybe we should focus on developing a rhythm with God. “The disciplines themselves are basic components of the rhythm of intimacy with God that feed and nourish the soul, keeping us open and available for God’s surprising initiatives in our lives.  After we learn the disciplines, there is infinite creativity for putting them together in a rhythm that works for us and great freedom for adding other disciplines and creative elements” (Ruth Haley Barton)

This week we will explore a variety of ways to develop our relationship with God. Each of us needs to develop a unique relationship and rhythm with God.

Perhaps instead of just checking off “devotions” on our Christian “to-do” lists, we should think about what the Lord wants to say to each of us today and the unique ways He is wanting to connect with us.

Day one action points:

1. Evaluate your experience with the idea of “spending time with God.” Do you have negative feelings? guilt? failure?

2.  Do you view time with God in religious terms or relational ones? Think about the relationships in your life. How do you interact with those people? How do you view time spent with them?

3. Are you a disciplined person? Does routine intimidate you? Consider today the idea of establishing spiritual rhythms with God. Pray that God would reveal what He wants to say to you today.

**Tomorrow we will discuss this topic further. Focusing on how your unique personality draws you to a unique way to relate and hear from God.**