Healthy People

Happy Healthy New Year Everyone! I want to share with each of you some things that may be helpful and beneficial as we step forward into 2025. The book of Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” This is one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament! This verse should give all of us hope as we wait expectantly on what God is going to do in and through each of us in 2025.

The thing is, we all need to stop dwelling on the things in our past or we will be stuck there. If we get stuck in the past, we will not be able to experience the new and wonderful things God has for us in this new year. Leif Hetland, founder and president of Global Missions Awareness, says, “The future is not waiting for us. It is waiting in us.” We have the choice to do greater things God has planned for each of us this year. In order to experience these greater things, we must decide to be a little uncomfortable and embrace change, nobody can do this for us.

It is up to us to Step UP and step out of the past so we can move forward with God. The problem is, unless you are a healthy person, this moving forward with God thing will most likely not happen and you will remain stuck. I want to help you get unstuck so that you can experience this new thing that God is going to do for you in 2025. First, I need to explain what a healthy and unhealthy person may look like.

Healthy people do not manipulate or try to control others. They also do not allow others to manipulate or control them. In fact, when this happens the healthy person moves quickly away from the person trying to control them. They take responsibility for their own lives and choices. They may have made some bad choices in their past, but they have moved forward with God helping them each step of their way.

They choose who they want to be with, what they are going to pursue in life, and how they are going to go after it. Healthy people do not live in fear, guilt, or their past. They know how to set healthy boundaries with others and are well-respected by others.

Unhealthy people play the victim or martyr card most days of the week and live in fear and guilt instead of love. They are always looking for others to make them feel secure, happy, and fulfilled. They are never satisfied and seem to see the negative in most things and people. They bring up the past all the time and seem to be stuck there. They do not understand healthy boundaries and are self-serving most of the time. They manipulate and must control everything and everyone around them and when they don’t get their way they pout or throw a fit until they get their way. They can be passive-aggressive or attack like a T-Rex. Most of the time, people involved in their lives feel like they have to walk on eggshells when they are with them. Unhealthy people have heart issues and hold grudges and unforgiveness in their hearts. They latch onto healthy people and if allowed, will suck them dry. Unhealthy people do not have a filter on their mouth and say anything they feel like saying at the expense of others. Most unhealthy people do not realize they are unhealthy; they think everyone has issues, just not them.

Here is the thing, I used to be a very unhealthy person with a lot of heart issues. As I made the decision to turn my life over to God almost 35 years ago, most of these issues have been unstuck so I have been able to move forward. I am still working on setting healthy boundaries and I pray God will help me establish these boundaries this year. I am also working on not living in guilt, but in God’s perfect love instead. When we place our trust in God and place Him in everything we do, all fear and guilt eventually fade away. We must stop allowing negative junk from others to cloud what we see in ourselves, but instead know and rely on what God sees in us. I have to remind myself daily that I am a new creation in Christ and that the past is the past and the future holds God’s amazing promises. I cannot dwell on what others may think about me, that’s quicksand to the soul. It is the pit of satan, swallowing up your potential for God!

Recently an old high school classmate contacted me to let me know how much she hated me in high school. She said that she thought I had the world by the tail. She apologized and repeated how sorry she thought this for so many years. Someone had given her a copy of my book Shaped by Faith, and after reading it she felt compelled to apologize. She apologized for judging me and assuming things about me. “You should never judge a book by its cover.” We never know what is going on in a person’s life. We should all learn from this lesson.

Here are some of my healthy tips to help you get unstuck

• Spend time with God each day (e.g., read a chapter of Proverbs every day) and memorize scripture.
• Exercise 3-5 days a week. (Schedule your workouts like you would a meeting or a hair appointment.)
• Be transformed daily by the renewing of your mind. You are what you think.
• Forgive yourself and others.
• Set healthy boundaries with family members, co-workers, and friends.
• Do something at least 3 times a week for others. It will bless you and them.
• Respect other people’s boundaries and don’t judge a book by its cover!
• Turn your heart over to God and start trusting in Him for everything.