How to Relieve Stress Through Our Faith: 5 Principles
2020 was an unprecedented year! With the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the catastrophic economic upheaval on millions of people, and the combination of politics and election drama on steroids, it’s no wonder we are feeling levels of stress and anxiety at levels we’ve probably not felt in our lifetimes. Relieving stress through faith has been a cornerstone for many people.
It’s times like this that we all need to be emotionally grounded in basic human decency and love. One of the best ways to achieve this is through being spiritually-grounded in our faith. Feeling connected to God and knowing that we are not alone in our trials and/or concerns has proven to many the common denominator for the hope of living our lives with compassion and purpose.
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Below are five faith-based stress relief principles that will help to relieve stress and enrich your life holistically as well:
1. The Power of Prayer Can Help Reduce Stress through Faith.
Heartfelt words with religious meaning (prayer) directed to God have the power to elevate our knowledge of intimately belonging to the Creator of the universe. Through prayer, our level of relaxation can be increased, and relief from stress can be achieved.
2. Faith Has Calming Effects.
Through prayer and self-reflection ( for instance, forms of meditation (through yoga and meditating on what’s read in the Bible), a sense of relaxation can be achieved, resulting in physical changes that reduce stress.
3. Faith Provides Meaning and Purpose to Our Lives.
Having a spiritually-based belief system helps us cope with many of life’s uncertainties and complex questions dealing with the meaning of our very existence. One of the best books I’ve ever read is The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? Written by Rick Warren, a pastor, global strategist, author, philanthropist, and theologian, this book has been on the New York Times bestseller list and has sold well over 30 million copies worldwide. I will never forget the first time I began reading this book, and the very first sentence hit me like a proverbial sledgehammer, “IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.” I strongly recommend reading this life-changing, inspiring book!
4. Faith Promotes Strong Positive Values.
Kindness; Love; Giving to Those In Need; Empathy; Compassion; Kindness; Justice – these are all hallmarks of almost all world religions. Promoting these faith-based, positive values instead of promoting self-centeredness, anger, greed, and aggression has been found to enhance lowering levels of stress.
5. Faith Can Create a Strong Sense of Community.
Faith shared within a like-minded community tends to bring people together in a mutually supportive way. Being with and sharing with positive fellow believers can help relieve our stress. Through our faith-based community, we can contact our fellow members of our community who are less fortunate. This allows us to reach out and be of service in many positive ways by giving our time, talents, and treasures. Self-sacrifice in reaching out and helping others locally, nationally, and globally has an overall positive effect.
Our thoughts greatly shape our lives. Having faith in something greater than ourselves is powerful in achieving inner peace and coping with our stressful lives. We all yearn to give purpose and meaning to our lives. Relieving stress through our faith is certainly a positive force for a holistically healthy life. I urge you to embrace a faith-based life.
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