Galatians 2:20 - Learning How to Die to Yourself and Live For Christ

Galatians 2:20 says "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Dying to yourself to live for Jesus is a continuous process. It doesn't just happen in 20 minutes or on a Thursday afternoon. You can't die to yourself on Thursday night at the revival service. You have to continuously make a conscious effort to live for Jesus. Your body is part of the sinful flesh, and it will always want you to turn back to your evil ways. The Holy Spirit that lives within you keeps us from getting involved in sin when we put all of our trust in him.

Galatians 2:20 - Learning How to Die to Yourself and Live For Christ

There are several signs you can use to tell if a Christian has truly died to themselves and is living for Jesus as instructed in Galatians 2:20.

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Galatians 2:20 - Learning How to Die to Yourself and Live For Christ

They tithe with their money and don't hoard all of their money.
God calls Christians to be joyful givers. Statistics show that very few Christians are tithing their 10% to the local church every month. In addition to how the Christian tithes, you need to observe how they are spending their money. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having nice things, but if they are investing a lot of time and energy into pointless hobbies and expensive cars, then they may not have their priorities in the right place. Galatians 2:20 is clear that when we die to ourselves, many of our hobbies and interests take a backseat to tithing and spending our money on worthy causes.

Galatians 2:20 - Learning How to Die to Yourself and Live For Christ

Galatians 2:20 - Learning How to Die to Yourself and Live For Christ

They are involved with the church outside of Sunday morning services.
Dying to yourself also means you will spend some time in ministry outside of Sunday morning services. You may attend church on Wednesday night, or you may go to a small group meeting on Saturday morning. Your time should reflect that you are a Christian who is committed to serving Christ in ministry at other times during the week or month. I am not saying that you need to be at your church every night of the week, but you should make an effort to have some additional involvement in the church body. Galatians 2:20 calls us to live for Christ, so some of our time during the week should be spent in ministry to God.

The fruit of the Spirit is evident in their life.
You can often tell when a person is a Christian. They act different from other people. They don't cuss as much, and they seem to get along with most people. They don't always get along with people who have a different outlook on life, but that is because Christians take a stand for the truth.

Galatians 2:20 is a passage of Scripture that many Christians need to read over and over again. It is the type of verse that can stir up our hearts and make us realize that everything revolves around Jesus. No matter what struggles you are facing in your life, the key is to live for Christ and die to yourself!

Galatians 2:20 - Learning How to Die to Yourself and Live For Christ

Waking Up Tired - How You Can Sleep All Night and STILL Be Exhausted

Ok so you finally got to bed early one evening. Better yet, you actually got to sleep in too! You're anticipating a nice, restful night and to build some energy for tomorrow. And yet, you wake up Tired. In fact, getting out of bed is just as hard as usual and by the mid afternoon your body is begging you to lay down and catch some shut-eye.

Waking Up Tired - How You Can Sleep All Night and STILL Be Exhausted

Waking Up Tired - How You Can Sleep All Night and STILL Be Exhausted

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Waking Up Tired - How You Can Sleep All Night and STILL Be Exhausted

Waking Up Tired - How You Can Sleep All Night and STILL Be Exhausted

Why does this happen? If you haven't experienced or realized this anomaly, you probably know someone who has. To tell you the truth, this whole aspect of the human sleep cycle is a pain in the butt... but I'm here to tell you that I can shed a little light on why this occurs and (better yet!) what you can do about it. So let's learn about waking up Tired and why it happens.

Sleep cycles: Learn 'em, live 'em, love 'em. You may or may not know this already, but our sleep is made up of 5 distinct sTAGes. Ranging from barely dozing off to R.E.M. (rapid eye moveMent) sleep, the one in which most bodily reparations and energy building occurs, these 5 cycles are ALL necessary in recharging your body.

Now, when humans beings were evolving (or were created, if you prefer), the world was a much more treacherous place. It would be difficult for say, a caveMen, to lie down and be undisturbed for 9 hours at a time, with all of the wild animals and flimsy shelters that characterized early human development. Instead, our bodies evolved to cram these 5 sleep sTAGes in 90 minute cycles. These cycles allow us to rebuild energy in smaller chunks. Think about it, we wouldn't last very long if you couldn't get rest unless you stayed perfectly asleep for an enTire night. In fact, most parents would die within the first year of having a child (what with all the nighttime crying) if this were the case, because they'd never get a solid night to recharge.

Enough of the history lesson... Why does MORE sleep make us feel Tired?

It isn't more sleep per se that makes us tired, but the fact that sleeping for numbers not divisible by 1.5 hours result in "broken" sleep cycles. For example, many people sleep 8 hours per night. At 7 and a half hours of sleep you would have just completed your 5th sleep cycle, but at 8 hours you are in the middle of another cycle. Waking up in the middle of your sleep cycle is a big no-no because your body will be trying to get you to go to sleep and complete that cycle the entire day.

Waking Up Tired - How You Can Sleep All Night and STILL Be Exhausted