Dimension 01: Religious & Spiritual Well-Being

“One should see the world, and see himself, as a scale with an equal balance of good and evil. When he does one good deed the scale is tipped to the good – he and the world is saved. When he does one evil deed the scale is tipped to the bad – he and the world is destroyed.”

Maimonides

get to happy

Click each box to explore each dimension in depth.

Dimension 1: Religious & Spiritual Well-Being

Whether a single parent or married couple with or without children, extended family or a created family, the adults in the family have the responsibility of making sure everyone gets along. Fairness, love, and communication are the key ingredients for success. Here are some specific guidelines for creating a cohesive and loving family.

Daily Practice and Connection

1. Serve the Lord

Starting the Day with Intentions
- Morning Prayer: Begin each day with a prayer to express gratitude and set your intentions. This can help center your mind and spirit, preparing you for the day ahead.
- Scripture Reading: Spend a few minutes reading a passage from the Bible or another inspirational text. Reflect on its meaning and how it applies to your life.
- Meditation: Take time to meditate and connect with God. Focus on your breath, quiet your mind, and open your heart to God’s presence.
Acts of Kindness and Service
- Helping Others: Look for opportunities to help those around you. This could be as simple as offering a kind word, helping a neighbor, or volunteering your time.
- Generosity: Practice generosity by giving to those in need. This could be through donations, sharing your resources, or offering your skills to benefit others.
- Encouragement: Lift up others with your words and actions. Encourage those who are struggling and celebrate the achievements of those around you.
Mindful Living
- Mindful Moments: Throughout the day, take moments to pause and reconnect with God. This could be during a break, a walk, or while doing mundane tasks. Use these moments to offer a quick prayer or simply acknowledge God’s presence.
- Guarding Your Speech: Be mindful of your words. Avoid gossip, unkind comments, and negative speech. Strive to speak with love, kindness, and truth.
Evening Reflection
- Evening Prayer: End your day with prayer, thanking God for the day’s experiences and seeking His guidance for tomorrow. Reflect on how you served Him and where you can improve.
- Self-Examination: Take a few minutes to reflect on your actions, thoughts, and words throughout the day. Consider how they aligned with your spiritual goals and where you can grow.
- Plan for Tomorrow: Set your intentions for the next day. Think about how you can serve the Lord and others and plan any specific acts of kindness or service you want to undertake.
Fostering Community
- Join a Group: Become part of a religious or spiritual group where you can share your journey, learn from others, and offer support. This could be a church group, a prayer circle, or an online community.
- Attend Services: Regularly attend religious services or spiritual gatherings. This helps strengthen your connection to God and fosters a sense of community.
- Share Your Faith: Be open about your faith and share your experiences with others. This can inspire and encourage those around you and help you grow in your own spiritual journey.

2. Practice Thankfulness

Daily Gratitude: Thank God each and every day for allowing us to live and serve Him as best we can. We do that by guarding our tongues from speaking unkindly to others or ourselves. If there is nothing nice to say, keep silent.
Recognizing Blessings: Keep a gratitude journal to document daily blessings and positive experiences. This helps maintain a focus on the good in life and recognizing God’s presence.

3. Cultivate Peace and Serenity

Guarding Speech and Actions: Strive to keep yourself and those around you in a safe environment, free of evil talk, anger, or hostility. If words are kept appropriate, actions are more likely to align with what God wants from us.
Promoting Peace: Work together to maintain a calm, joyful, friendly, and peaceful environment.
Collaborative Efforts: Help by working together to keep our environment calm, joyful, friendly, and peaceful. With peace, we gain serenity, which enables us to focus more on tasks that we need to accomplish to fulfill our day successfully and without conflict.
Building Unity: Having a supportive community around you makes it much easier to deal with challenges, whether they are personal stressors or larger societal issues.
Prayer and Meditation: Prayer and meditation can help you get through the day. Take a moment to breathe deeply, pray for strength, and center yourself. This practice helps improve our lives by aligning us with God’s will.

4. Understand Good and Evil Inclinations

Divine Gift of Free Will: One of the greatest gifts God has bestowed upon humanity is the gift of free will. This means that, although God is omniscient and knows the choices we will make, He allows us to make our own decisions. This freedom is essential for genuine love and obedience, as forced love or compliance would not be true devotion.
Opportunity for Positive Change: This freedom of choice provides us with countless opportunities to make positive changes in our lives. Every moment presents a chance to choose goodness, kindness, and righteousness over selfishness, cruelty, and wrongdoing. Even when we make mistakes, we are given the opportunity to repent, learn, and grow from those mistakes.
Moral Responsibility: With freedom comes responsibility. We are accountable for our choices and their consequences. Understanding this helps us appreciate the gravity of our actions and strive to make decisions that align with God’s will.

5. Recognize Imperfection

Human Imperfection: Acknowledging our imperfections is crucial. We are inherently flawed and prone to mistakes, but this is part of the human condition. God understands our weaknesses and offers us grace and forgiveness.
Striving for Goodness: The journey of life involves striving to overcome our imperfections and grow closer to the divine ideal. This continuous effort to improve ourselves helps us gain insight into our behaviors and the underlying reasons for our actions.
Understanding Evil Inclinations: Sometimes people choose evil or bad inclinations over good ones due to various factors such as upbringing, environment, trauma, or ignorance. These individuals can be seen as lost souls who need guidance and support to find their way back to goodness.
Redemption and Transformation: Everyone has the potential for redemption. With understanding, compassion, and support, even those who have strayed far from the path of righteousness can be redirected toward the good. This transformation is possible because of God’s boundless mercy and the strength He gives us to change.

6. Consider Choices and Consequences

Dual Nature of Choices: Every choice we make has the potential for good or evil. Understanding this dual nature helps us see the importance of each decision and its impact on our lives and the lives of others.
Explaining Evil in the World: The presence of evil in the world can be challenging to comprehend, especially when bad things happen to good people. However, understanding that humans have free will explains why evil actions occur. It is not God who causes suffering but the misuse of human freedom.
Divine Intervention and Grace: Even when evil inclinations lead to negative consequences, God works to bring about good from the bad. He provides us with the strength and grace to overcome adversity and transform our suffering into growth and wisdom.
Learning from Consequences: Every consequence, whether positive or negative, is a learning opportunity. Reflecting on the outcomes of our choices helps us understand the importance of making decisions aligned with God’s will. It reinforces our commitment to choosing good over evil.
Empowerment through Choice: Knowing that we have the power to choose our path empowers us to take control of our lives. It reminds us that, despite our imperfections, we are capable of making significant positive changes that align with God’s plan for us.

7. Practice Humility in Thoughts and Actions

Gratitude and Humility: When good happens, it is a gift from God. It does not occur without God’s help. Feeling superior is damaging to the soul, as it puts oneself above or on par with God, which we are not. Everything we do has God’s hand in it.
God’s Guidance: Recognize that all positive achievements are made possible with God’s guidance and support. Maintaining humility keeps us grounded and grateful.

8. Practice Prayer and Meditation

Daily Practice: Prayer and meditation can help you get through the day. Take a moment to breathe deeply, pray for strength, and center yourself.
Focus on Blessings: Shift your focus from immediate problems to giving thanks for the good things you have. Look around at the beauty in this world — trees, flowers, a smile from another person, a newborn baby’s smile, a decent meal. All these are gifts from God.
Connection and Centering: Through deep thought and meditation, connect with God, center yourself, and find guidance. This practice helps improve our lives by aligning us with God’s will.

9. Pursue Good vs. Evil

Striving for Good: Recognize the magnetic forces of good and evil in this world and within yourself. With God’s help, strive to keep bad thoughts, actions, words, and deeds away.
Serenity Prayer: Reflect on the serenity prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living God’s Plan: Stick with God’s plan, and life will improve. Prayer is a form of meditation that can relieve stress and guide you toward the best actions.

Final Thoughts

By expanding on these concepts, we can offer deeper insights into the nature of good and evil inclinations, the importance of free will, and the transformative power of God’s grace and guidance. This comprehensive understanding helps individuals navigate their spiritual journey with greater clarity and purpose.

When we make our little section of the world pleasant, conflict-free, and joyful, it has a tremendous ripple effect. Others will follow your lead, and over time, you will see a more harmonious life. Stay committed to God’s plan and watch as life transforms for the better.