{"id":5186,"date":"2019-11-03T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-03T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5186"},"modified":"2019-09-30T19:56:30","modified_gmt":"2019-10-01T00:56:30","slug":"choose-not-to-burn-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5186","title":{"rendered":"Choose Not to Burn Out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Choices change our lives\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Most\nChristians want to serve but don\u2019t know how to avoid spiritual burnout in the\nprocess. To be honest, I\u2019m not sure I know how to avoid it either. At one time\nor another we all try to \u201cwork\u201d our way to righteousness on the spiritual\ntreadmill, desiring to reach some lofty vision we see as the ultimate Christian\nexperience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must\nguard against becoming modern day Pharisees. \u201cWork\u201d oriented goals tend to make\nus feel just a little superior to others. Keeping a mental list of what we need\nto do to attain righteousness leaves us living more under law than grace. If we\nfall into the personal performance trap, it won\u2019t be long before we run out of\nsteam. Performing godly tasks on our own strength instead of God\u2019s can lead to\nburn out. God\u2019s flame is eternal and never burns out. Our feeble flame can\ndefinitely burn out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depression,\nstress, and burnout can have overlapping symptoms, but actually fall into three\ndifferent categories. Depression is usually linked to a loss and a person\u2019s\nlethargic inability to face life. Stress produces hyperactivity\u2014 emotions\nbecome overactive, and the person literally wears out and gets exhausted. But\nwith burnout, there is a lack of motivation and drive \u2013 not because of a\nweakened, physical condition but because the will to do anything is gone. Ideals\nand hope are lost. There is no excitement about life. The joy in the journey is\ngone. In other words, \u201cWhat\u2019s the use?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can good,\nserving Christians suffer burnout? You better believe it! Burnout can be the\nresult of too much service for the wrong motivation. So we must ask ourselves\nwhy we do what we do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we\ntrying to impress others? Many try to please others, seeking approval and\nfearing criticism. Therefore, they have trouble evaluating where their time is\nbest spent or setting up boundaries. They can\u2019t say \u201cno\u201d to others. When their\nefforts don\u2019t reap the results they hoped, they get disheartened and\ndiscouraged. When they can\u2019t live up to their own expectations or the\nexpectations of others, they feel like failures. However, these are not God\u2019s\nexpectations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we\nserving in an area that brings us joy? When we minister in areas that match our\ngifts and talents, we can feel as if we are meant to do this. Some are\nperfectly happy there, but others get tired of doing the same old thing and may\ndecide to try another area of service \u2013 some new endeavor they feel excited\nabout \u2013 something they want to learn. They hesitate, fearing others will not be\nsupportive, so they don\u2019t move on. Or worse, people guilt them into thinking if\nthey don\u2019t do their current job, no one will. However, God does not want us to\nserve out of guilt, but joy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we\nworking for God\u2019s glory? We should be working for God\u2019s glory \u2013 not ours \u2013 nor\njust for the good of others. We cannot be the spiritual nourishment for others.\nNeedy people can drain us dry. While it might be fine to let someone lean on us\nfor a short time, the ultimate goal is to get them to lean on God. We can\u2019t do\nthis for them. And if we are trying to do it for them, we are not doing it for\nGod\u2019s glory. We\u2019ll be doing it on our own strength or steam. It\u2019s better to\nrely on God\u2019s strength and teach others to do the same.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider this\u2026<\/strong> We can spend a lot of time and\neffort doing things for God He does not require us to do. Workaholic Christians\nrarely find time for the most important priority \u2013 relationship with the living\nGod. Once a relationship develops, the motive of service becomes love, not\nobligation. It\u2019s not how much we do that counts; it\u2019s why we do what we do. We\nneed to keep our eyes focused on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Our lives need to be God\ncentered, not work oriented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One final thought\u2026<\/strong> Our flames are feeble, but God\u2019s flame is eternal and never burns out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Choices change our lives\u2026 By Barbara Dahlgren Most Christians want to serve but don\u2019t know how to avoid spiritual burnout in the process. To be honest, I\u2019m not sure I know how to avoid it either. At one time or … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5186"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}