What does your emotional bank account look like?

“Emotional bankruptcy” can occur when someone feels mentally drained after experiencing stressful situations or unhealthy relationships. We may “overspend” our emotions on the wrong people, places, and situations. To prevent this, we should establish boundaries with ourselves so we can protect one of our most priceless assets - our mental health 🧠💰

Many people falsely believe that feeling depressed as a Christian means that you are not a “good Christian.”

But we should remember that characters in the Bible struggled with depression too - one of the most significant examples is Elijah.

So do not look at depression as a separation from your faith. The experience can be used as a way to draw closer and build a connection to your faith.

Biblical Perspective on Dating 🙌🏻

This post is not intended to shame, however, it is intended to share the lessons we can learn from the internet’s most recent source of memes.

In all seriousness, here are the two major lessons to gather from the CEO’s affair:
1. Love without boundaries enables lust
2. Integrity is reflected in all areas of life, including business and relationships.

Additionally, we need to create boundaries in the workplace!

The controversial topic of the Devil’s lettuce, otherwise known as marijuana!

While CDB has potential medical benefits, we cannot deny that getting high off marijuana/weed can lead to an impaired state of mind. In this way, smoking weed puts you under the influence of the drug, allowing the potential for satanic influence.

We should keep in mind that marijuana (and other drugs) can create hallucinations, but in the context of Christianity, the hallucinations could very well be real demons.

Do you agree or disagree? Make sure to share your thoughts in the comments ⬇️

Sometimes God does not answer our prayers in the timing we desire, or He may need us to go through certain events in order to fulfill our purpose for Him.

In any case, unanswered prayers are a difficult situation to encounter. But Jesus teaches us how to get through such an experience.

We must …
1. Feel the emotions
2. Pray
3. Surrender the situation
4. Live in acceptance

Relationships with expiration dates result in a break up. To overcome a break up, we must follow these three concepts:

1. Forget the past
2. Focus on the new things
3. Trust God has the right person for us, in His timing

Regardless if your ex treated you poorly or treated you well, it can still be difficult to let go. But if you are struggling, remember this:

Letting go of someone allows God to hold them closer.

#Relationships #christianliving #healing #MentalHealth #Faith

• Sometimes we may struggle with the idea of someone “getting away” with their offenses. But we can find peace in knowing that God’s justice will surpass the offenses.
  
  We also need to remember the desire for justice is reasonable after experiencing an offense, but we need to avoid the desire for revenge.
  
  Fun Fact: My book on narcissistic relationships will further explore this topic!
  ➡️ Make sure to follow along as the publishing journey continues 🕊️
  
  #forgiveness #narcissism #Relationships #christianliving #christianity #author #writing

Hi Friends 👋

My name is Eli Vale and I am a writer that is focused on adding faith in all aspects of life! This includes mental health, fitness, finance, relationships and more.

As you follow along, you’ll learn more about Christianity, book recommendations, and my journey as a writer. I am excited to impact other people just as God has impacted my own life.

📣 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT 📣

I am very blessed and grateful to announce that my first book is getting published!

My debut book will offer a Christian perspective towards narcissistic relationships. This is a subject I am very passionate about because I have seen and experienced the effects of narcissistic people.

I truly believe this book will help other people recovering from the aftermath so they can move forward in the healing process.

🕊️

The Wonders of Book Publishing 📚

There are two types of publishing options - Traditional Publishing and Self Publishing.

Traditional Publishing will not require as much money upfront since publishers cover costs of editing, design, and marketing. Time is a bigger variable since it can take years to see your book hit the shelf in stores. Barriers to entry can be a challenge since you need to send your book to literary agents and publishers. You will still have freedom over your work but you will need to collaborate with a team as your book is developed.

Self Publishing requires more money for upfront costs, so you will need to budget for that investment. However, self publishing allows you to publish a book quickly, offers no barriers to entry, and you have full freedom over your project. Important to note - self publishers retain ALL THE RIGHTS to their book since they are not signing contracts with a traditional publisher.

To determine which option best suits you, reflect on these four questions:

1. How much money can I invest in my book?
2. How soon do I want to see my book in the store?
3. Am I okay with possible barriers to entry?
4. How much freedom do I want to have with my project?

One of the ways a narcissistic person reels us into a relationship is by love bombing us!

💣💕
Love bombing is a form of manipulation where emotional attachment is formed quickly. Emotional attachment is created with the intent of obtaining control over you!

🚩 To avoid manipulation and love bombing, we will need to use discernment/good judgement.

🚩 Take it slow and do not rush into a new relationship. 1 John 4:1 recommends “testing one’s spirit” to ensure the person is good hearted.

🚩 It is easier to avoid manipulation when you slow down to think about the other person’s actions.

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1 NIV

Question: How Do You Write A Book While Balancing the Obligations of Life?

Answer: Time Management!

Here is How I Managed My Time So I Could Write A Book While Working as a Full Time Employee and Part Time Graduate Student:

1. Mobile Capture Tool - The Google Docs App allowed me to write down (capture) my ideas throughout the day. Then I referred back to my notes when I had scheduled time to sit down and elaborate. Other people may consider using a physical notebook or the notes app on their phone.

2. Blocking Time on the Calendar - Using a calendar app will allow you to visually see how much time you have to write and prevent overlapping obligations.

3. Set Reasonable Deadlines - You will need to set deadlines for yourself within a reasonable timeframe.

Prayer Will Not Fix Everything
But …
Prayer Accompanied by Actions Will Fix (Most) Things

James 2:17 states “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

This means that we do need to have faith (through prayer). However, prayer must be accompanied by productive actions so we can help ourselves heal from difficulties we might encounter.

For example, we can only offer so many prayers with we are struggling with trauma. At a certain point, you will need to take action by going therapy, support groups, etc.

The same could apply in other situations, such as jobs. You will need to pray for a new job, but if you do not act on an opportunity, the desired outcome will never occur.

Narcissistic People Use Smear Campaigns With the Intention of:

❌ “Smearing” and Ruining Your Reputation

❌ Provoking an Emotional Reaction From You

❌ Falsely Victimizing Themselves

However, if we are faced with a smear campaign, we need to respond, not react.

✅ Proverbs 26:4 says “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.”

✅ Do not allow the narcissistic person to invoke an emotional response from you. Otherwise, you will give them what they want - manipulation and information, all for the use of their falsified story.

✅ My upcoming book will cover a smear campaign in detail to help you navigate this narcissistic tactic

How Do We Forgive Someone Who Hurt Us?

🔹 Acts 2:38 tells us that everyone must repent for thier wrongdoings. In this way, it is a validation for someone who feels hurt by the offenses of another person. Simultaneously, the verse tells us forgiveness is a gift.

🔹 While forgiveness is not the easiest gift to give to someone, we need to remember that we do not need to forgive by our own strength. Jesus paid for the gift of forgiveness by His sacrifice and it is by His strength that we can extend forgiveness in the hardest circumstances.

🔹 As a side note, forgiveness does not discard accountability, otherwise there would be no need for repentance.

Here are the Reasons Why We Need a Faith Based Perspective on Money:

💸 Although this scripture does not mention an emotional relationship with money, it is important to emphasize that many people use spending as a coping mechanism, thereby creating the term “retail therapy”. The instant gratification of purchases can elevate your mood.

💸 Stewardship is the ability to manage one’s resources in a moral manner. While spending can be fun, we still need to be good stewards of funds. This leads to the idea of poor stewardship. Poor money habits will keep you poor, even if your income increases.

💸 Poor stewardship creates a lack of trust. It will be difficult to provide more resources to a person who wastes them. If more resources are given, the poor steward’s irresponsibility would be further enabled.

“The Other Woman” is known as an adulterous woman in the Bible. While there are specific stories of adulterous women in the Bible, Proverbs 5:3-5 best summarizes the woman as verbally sweet, inherently bitter, sharp as a sword, and deadly.

🚨Eventhough this information mentions adulterous women, the same concept can apply towards adulterous men.

🚨 Any person who cheats or commits adultery will have to answer for those wrongdoings.

🚨 Important reminder for those who may have experienced this situation: Your value is not dependent on your partner’s poor choices.

“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.” ~ Proverbs 11:22 NIV 🐽💍

While both men and women can find themselves metaphorically stuck in the snout of a pink mammal, we should remember to avoid this predicament by using discretion and discernment!

“Lack of discretion” causes offense to others, usually by the means of one’s behavior. Lack of discretion could apply towards many situations such as modesty, politeness, and foul language to name a few.

“Lack of discernment” causes offense to yourself, usually by the means of poor choices. For example, lacking discernment with romantic partners, substance use, promiscuity or other vices.

Additionally, discretion (behavior) and discernment (choices) tend to be related to each other. Both factors influence the path we follow in life.

To go down a healthy path, we must have good discretion (behavior) and good discernment (choices) 🕊️

Future faking is also known as “dangling the carrot” in a relationship. The future faker’s goal is to prevent you from exiting the relationship because they still want to reap benefits from you.

Common examples of “dangling the carrot” may include [false] promises of:
🥕 Engagement/Marriage
🥕 Getting a job to contribute financially
🥕 Helping with the kids
🥕 Introducing you to their family
🥕 Making the relationship “official”

To avoid future faking, try to make decisions based on their actions, instead of their false promises.