This is part 5 of 6 in the Sound Mind Series.

This is the 5th week in our Sound Mind series, where we are exploring how spiritual practices impact our emotional and mental health, and today we are talking about scripture and journaling. Sounds basic, right? 

I'm a writer who resisted journaling for many years. As a young person, I filled pages with dribble, sob stories, lofty dreams. And then at some point I stopped. As silly as it may sound, I didn't want to face my own thoughts anymore. I didn't want to explore the painful parts of life or repeat the dreams that hadn't come true. Ceasing to write about it all seemed easier, but very likely truncated some of my personal and spiritual growth.

During covid lock downs, I began a practice on paper that became the Daily Practice in the Dawn app. It was a combination of exploring and recording my time spent with God in a bullet journal-like form. Very short.

I had no motivation and stamina for long passages of scripture and deep contemplation. But I could read a little, I could write a little, and I could do it daily. It was a way back into writing, even briefly, what was going on inside of me.

More importantly, it provided a few moments of giving God an opportunity to bring a heavenly perspective to my day, my desires, my troubles. It was like opening a window for the light to come in and change the way I saw everything. And that act ultimately transforms us more into His image.

I'm not going to tell you to buy a journal and start writing out the events of your day. That's a diary ;).And I don't think I have to tell you that scripture is a practical guide for your life (Ps. 119:105) and good for your soul (Heb. 4:12).

I chose to put these two elements of faith life together because I believe writing is one of the best ways to apply the truth we read and hear. It's one of the ways that revelation comes to us.

Being a steady person who weathers the regular storms of life with grace and confidence requires a mind regularly exposed to and examined by God's truth. 

This scripture/journaling combo can take many forms, such as writing in a devotional journal, using a creative expression like painting, or logging it in a Note in your phone. Whatever you can sustain is the best thing for you to do.

God's best for you is security and stability, a mind without fear of the future, a mind at rest. That is what a sound mind looks like. And a sound mind is always anchored in truth greater than itself, truth made flesh among us. 

Do you have a journaling or writing practice, even if it's very short form? Have you tried a bullet journal or releasing thoughts and emotions through the Daily Practice?

If not, what's keeping you from it?