Hello friends!
For those of you who do not know who I am, I am Dr. Wallpe’s wife Lindsey, and he has given me this wonderful opportunity to write a blog post on spiritual health for the month of April!
Spiritual health can consist of many things. Spiritual health is having compassion and the capacity to love, forgive, being altruistic, joyful, and fulfilled. This comes with your religious faith, values, beliefs, principles, and morals. Many forms of spiritual health can include yoga and meditation, which are great and can help us in many ways and guide our spiritual health but there is a much deeper need that must be met. But, I am going to talk about the ONLY WAY that can ever provide us with compassion, the capacity to love, forgiveness and more importantly fulfillment, and that is a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Before I get started I would like to open up with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, I want to thank You so much for this opportunity to reach out to the community and share my heart. I pray that for anyone reading this, that they would open their heart and mind to what You have for them to hear. I pray that You would speak Your words through me and allow me to share what You want them to know about a relationship with You. Amen.
To give you guys a little more background information on me, I grew up in central Illinois (I will explain how I got to Indiana in just a bit) but my parents and relatives are from North Vernon. I have 4 older sisters, 4 nephews and 1 niece that I just absolutely adore! Family has always been so important to me and even more, faith has always been a part of my life.
Growing up, I attended church every Sunday. I had bible study, church, and youth group on Sunday night and then a service on Wednesdays. I always knew that my parents wanted me to go because it was important and there was no other way around it. I would pray before I ate meals with my family, and I would pray before I went to bed. I accepted Jesus into my heart and was baptized when I was a freshman in High School. As I went to college, I went to church every once in a while but it was really just when I felt that I had time to take out of my schedule to go. I felt it was more of an obligation than me actually wanting to go. I felt good where I was but there was a little emptiness in my heart that I didn’t understand. I just felt like something was missing.
As I would mess up, do something wrong, or something was thrown my way, I would turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness or ask for help in whatever situation it was. I thought to myself how come I am only turn to Jesus when I have a hardship or wanting Jesus only for His forgiveness? And I think that is something that we could all ask ourselves today. Why is it that we turn to Him when we only need help? Why aren’t we turning to him because we want Him and only Him?
In order to grow in God and build a relationship through Jesus Christ, it requires you to make an effort. When you draw near to God, He will draw near to you (James 4:8). The best way to draw near to God is through prayer and opening up the Word of God.
A few years ago, I went through a hardship, and I believe that if it weren’t for my relationship with Jesus, it would have left me crushed, bitter, and angry. Knowing that I had a sweet Savior to lean on and take all my pain away, was all that I needed to get through the storm. That storm led me to moving to Indiana to be closer to family and meeting my sweet husband that you all know of Dr. Wallpe.
When we lean in and put our faith and trust in Jesus and continue to build that relationship, and get to know Him more each day, you will see that God truly knows your every need and will lead you right where you need to be. It turned out that the hardship that I went through, was all part of God’s perfect plan for my life and when I leaned into Him and got to know Him more, I was able to recognize that.
When we look at our personal relationship with Jesus as a friendship versus an obligation, we are able to grow and become more fulfilled than we have ever before.
Some of you may be going through a hardship right now. Whether that be a health issue, divorce, financial problems, problems at work or whatever it may be, I pray and hope that you can turn to the One who loves you more than anyone, and lean into the hope and the promise that God has for you.
Some of you reading today may not have a personal relationship with Jesus or may not know what that looks like. Some may say that they need to get themselves together before they turn to God, or have you heard someone say that if they stepped into Church, it would on catch fire?
What is amazing about the God we serve is that He will meet us wherever we are at! How amazing is it to know that we have a God so gracious and merciful, that He will meet us right where we are.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:23-24
Don’t those words give you so much hope?! God sent his son to die on the cross to save our sins so that we would be freed.
If you do not have a relationship with Jesus, all you have to do is ask God to come into your heart. All it takes is a few words. If you are feeling a tug on your heart and you are in need of something more and you are ready to take this step of faith, you can pray these words and make them your own.
God, Thank you so much for sending your son to die on the cross. God you sent your son to pay the price of His blood that I could never do. I know that I have messed up and fallen short of your glory but God, I ask for your forgiveness and I know that you will continue to guide me daily. Thank you Lord for opening up my heart and filling it more than it could ever be filled. It’s in your precious name I pray, Amen.
As you have read this blog, I hope you have gained a greater understanding of what it truly means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. There is no other relationship that is greater and more powerful than this and what an honor it has been to be able to share my experience and spiritual walk with Christ.
I want to leave you with one question to think about. One day, we will meet Jesus face to face. That is a fact. When you meet Jesus, how well are you going to know Him? Are you going to know little about Him? Or is it going to be like you have never been apart from one another?
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