Hey there, Izzi! Sometimes when I’m not sure if God is leading me or my own brain is leading me, I’ll seek out God’s word on the topic in Scripture. What does the Bible say about physical exercise? Or, maybe the more important question for me, what does the Bible say about making an idol of physical fitness? (Intense diet/workout routines have pulled me down that road more times than I’d like to admit.) You can also talk to a trusted spiritual mentor, like a pastor, small group leader, or trusted family member or friend, to help you get outside of your own head and view things from a different perspective!

Sometimes, too, I’ll write down something I feel God has placed on my heart, then ask Him to confirm that word for me. That might look like it showing up again in that week’s Bible reading, a sermon at church, a conversation, or even popping onto my social media feed. ❤️

I absolutely love this, Heather! ❤️ Thank you so much for sharing!!

Hi Marcus,

While a pet can add a lot of value to your life, I agree that it’s easy to make your pet an idol. If you spend more quality time with your pet than you do with God, spend more money buying toys and gourmet food for them than you do toward advancing God’s kingdom, or place your identity in being a pet parent more than you do in being a child of God, it’s worth looking into! Relationships and affection are often the most slippery slope toward idolatry, since they start with a positive, Christ-like value – loving and caring for others.

@Deb, Pets and animals. If PDAs and dress up proudly on open video–as living nonhumans–fail to get you on this list, I don’t know what does. Pets travel, sit, and lie down where people could or will(vehicles and homes). They are a health hazard for you and your family(may have to be on dangerous meds to deal with the danger). They get free room or board(or almost). If a neighbor had to live with you for a year, would they live rent free with you?! For the pet, it’s not a year; it’s a lifetime! They get buried like a person would when they die. Their owners and chjIbren become anaphylactic and germy risks for whomever they encounter or those that will indeed be where they have been. These new people become new carriers unbeknownst to themselves at the time. There is risk of getting pet material on shelves, doors, counters, walls, and customer products(including food, drinks, books, toys, and clothing). They are a bite or attack risk for you and other innocent people. And, there is also the zoophilia(animal lust) and bestiality potential for you or a family member as well due to them being cuddly living teddy bears.

Also, those people quality baby dolls…

The whole idea of this blog post (I apologize, I’m not sure which book you’re referring to.) is to learn to edit your thoughts for your own sake, since dwelling on your problems can create more problems, make it difficult to move forward, bring you down, etc. If you’re happy with the state of your mind and thoughts, then no need to spend time processing them or journaling through them. But for those on a quest to improve their mindset, journaling provides a scientifically validated tool for improving mental health and well-being. The beauty of journaling is that there are no rules – you can vent in your journal, process your emotions, document your day, write poetry, draw, anything! 😀

I need to journal to edit my thoughts? For who? Why? What is the right way? For who? Why? And now I need to worry if my thoughts are unhealthy?
This book should be called, “How to worry about things and obsess like never before!”. Better still, “Not worried you talk too much and are annoying? You should be.”
For holy moly sakes don’t buy this book! It sounds completely awful.

My opinion on journaling is do for yourself, this is NOT a test, YOU DON’T NEED TO MONITOR UNHEALTHY THOUGHT PATTERNS IN YOUR OWN JOURNAL MY GOD

What a beautiful collection of verses! Thanks so much, Usha! ❤️