“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:10-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

So recently I started training for a 5K marathon.  That’s right 5K, my kids laughed, my husband laughed, actually I even laughed.  I am so out of shape it’s not even funny.  It has been a long time since I have attempted to run, so I am very thankful that I can walk this 5K because I would never survive 3.1 miles running.

To help prepare for the big day, I along with several of my colleagues have been using an app to track our steps per day.  I started using the app a couple weeks ago and thought to myself I bet I walk a lot of steps.  I am a busy lady, I bet I walk 9-10 thousand steps without even trying.  I was so wrong….  I was surprised the first day that I was under 2000 steps.  That’s crazy.  There must be something wrong. I know I walk more than that, or at least it feels like I do.  This app also allows you to check your friends progress, so being the competitive person I am I decided I better step up my game (no pun intended).  So I made sure to walk extra steps and be more intentional about walking.  I am proud to say I have improved but am still a long way from 10 thousand steps and walking a 5K but at least I am progressing.

As I have been eagerly watching my steps, I got to thinking.  What if there was an app to track my Spiritual steps?  Would I also be surprised how few steps I was taking each day?  Sadly, I know my Spiritual steps are no where near where they should be either.  The purpose of the 5K is to focus on physical wellness and it is working as I am focused on walking more.  Maybe I need to have a goal of a Spiritual 5K, so I would be challenged to focus on my Spiritual wellness too.

So how could I measure my Spiritual steps?  Well Jesus set a great example for us while he was here on earth.  He would spend time “walking” with God by spending time alone with him, praying, and serving others.  The gospels share time and time again that Jesus went to a place of solitude.  He chose to have quiet time with God, uninterrupted by the world.  A time to get in tune with God and listen to him.  Additionally, Jesus “walked” Spiritually by praying to his Father.  God was his “person”.  He knew he could talk with him about anything and everything and God would listen.  Having a personal close relationship with God is key to getting our Spiritual steps in.  The last example of his Spiritual walk, is Jesus having a servant attitude.  He took compassion on the sick, maimed and hurting by healing and comforting them.  He was a servant leader, not demanding to his followers to do for him but showing them compassion while leading and training them in love.  These are great examples Jesus set for us in how to walk Spiritually with God.

I have decided that while I continue to train for my 5K, I am adding in another wellness area to be intentional about.  Yep, my Spiritual wellness.  To track my Spiritual steps, I need to be real with myself.  I need to ask myself some hard questions.  Am I spending time alone with God reading and studying his word uninterrupted by the chaos of this world? How is my daily prayer life?  Am I truly praying and talking to God or just throwing up a few wishes hoping God happens to listen as I rush through my day?  Am I a servant leader?  Am I expecting others to serve me?  Do I show love and compassion to a hurting world?  As I strive to improve my Spiritual wellness I will be tracking the answers to these questions to determine my daily steps and measure my Spiritual well being.  I hope you will keep track of your Spiritual steps too because Spiritual wellness is very important.  Let’s step it up!