The place of leave or rest in public institutions, private institutions, and pastoral ministry is very important and it cannot be done away with. Students go on holiday, government and private workers go on break and pastors go on leave. The reason is to avoid a breakdown in the body system.
When people accumulate stress and don’t have rest, it can result in emotional and psychological trauma which in turn can lead to untimely death.
Nature cannot be manipulated or cheated. As students, government workers, private workers, and pastors we need good rest to enable us to function well in our fields of endeavor.
Negative emotions as a subject matter to be addressed in today’s teaching has to do with feeling which causes one to be miserable and it also makes one dislike his or her self and others. Negative emotions take away one’s concentration.
The goal of today’s teaching is to encourage youths to develop the attitude of rest and also shun negative emotions capable of causing them emotional and psychological trauma.
Reducing Stress Among Older Youths And Younger Youths
Stress is said to be a disorder in the body system due to physical or mental work embarked upon. The symptoms of anxiety include severe headache, dizziness, tiredness (weakness of the body or joints) e.t.c.
READ MORE: Awakening The Spiritual Deposit In You
Classes of Stress
If we must proffer ways of reducing stress, we must also understand the various classes of stress.
1. Academic Stress
This kind of stress is associated with students who want by all means to become the best in their class and they can go the extra mile to have their heart desire met.
This kind of determination is good but it has its own side effects. Students with this kind of determination can go without sleep, food, bath, and other things just to have a good grade or result.
Students like these don’t end up furthering their studies because of health challenges that bedeviled them as a result of stress accumulated during their school days.
2. Domestic Stress
This kind of stress is associated with housewives or house helpers. There are homes that see house helps as domestic machines that must do every work at home.
They squeeze the life out of these house helps to the extent that they do have not enough time to rest. Some house helps them go to bed late and wake up early thereby putting them in the pool of stress.
3. Office Stress
The home must not be a place where office work is done. Some people take home office work only to finish it late at night and wake up as early as possible to prepare for the office.
Sadly this kind of attitude can kill the fire of the husband, wife, and children relationship in the family. There are people that have been laid off from work because of health challenges (They hadn’t time to rest.
They worked in the office and also carried office work home and now they are paying back with their health)
Managing Stress
Below are sure ways stress can be managed or controlled
B – Bath (freshen up)
E – Eat
S – Sleep
T – Take a walk (stroll)
With these steps, you will bounce back refreshed for effective results.
Managing Negative Emotions As Older Youths And Younger Youths
Negative emotions have to do with feeling which causes one to be miserable and it also makes one dislike his/her self and others. Negative emotions take away one’s concentration. A few examples of negative emotions are:
1. Un-forgiveness: Mathew 6:14-15
2. Hatred: (you hate because others are better than you in class or other things (I John 4:20, 3:15 & Lev. 19:17a)
3. Anger (get upset at slight provocation and in return you use offensive language to express your displeasure)
Negative emotions can be managed or controlled if only we will exercise SELF-CONTROL. Self-control entails the ability to behave oneself from doing things that can result in regrets and shame.
A man without self-control is like a city without walls.
CONCLUSION
Are you here and you don’t have time to rest? Be careful because too much work without play makes Jack a dull boy. If you don’t pay, not resting now, you will pay in the future.
Have enough rest, eat well, sleep well, and exercise yourself and you will be more effective and achieve desired results in your studies, workplace, and ministry.
GOD BLESS YOU AND I WISH YOU THE STRENGTH OF THE LORD IN ALL WALKS OF LIFE.
Source
Sermon taught by Rev. Taye Ettah James at Jesus Cash Winning Ministry Quiz Show (First English Baptist Church Mando, Kaduna)