10 Tips for Beating a Crush: Tip 4

4.   Spend time with God.

Read your Bible every day. No buts. No excuses. It’s hard, and sometimes it’s not that interesting. But developing a healthy habit of reading your Bible every day will affect you more than you understand.

When you spend time with God, you tell Him that He’s important in your life. When you start off the day by spending time with Him, you tell Him that He’s the first priority in your life. By shrugging off reading the Bible, you tell Him that He isn’t important in your life. 

Years ago, when I started reading the Bible daily, it was a chore. Now, it’s my joy. I can’t go a day without reading it—and some days it’s hard for me to tear myself away. The passages that used to seem boring to me are now coming alive with things I never noticed about God. His character and His love for us comes through in every single page. It is crucial that you make time every day to be with God and to be in His Word. Yes, there will be dry seasons, but God never changes and He is always the same. Cling to those promises during dry times.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.”

Psalm 119:105

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Matthew 6:33

Also, pray a lot. Spend time every day praying for others, as well as yourself. Stay in touch with God. Thank Him throughout the day for the things He’s done for you. Even though God already knows everything about you, pray to Him like He doesn’t know anything. Lay everything out before Him. Don’t hide anything. And then learn to rely on His comfort.
Another great resource during a time like this is our devotional ebook, 30 Days of Surrender. Of course, one of the days is Surrender Love and I think we all must learn better how to surrender our heart's affections to Christ.

“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

1 John 5:14-15

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:15-16

Finally, memorize Scripture. I used to be like, “Memorize Scripture? What? Too much work. Besides, I can just Google any verse that I want!” But now I’m discovering how important the verses I’ve memorized are to me. Verses and song lyrics are some of the most helpful things when I’m fighting temptation, such as daydreams. Check out this article addressing the importance of Scripture memory and this article with practical tips.

“Your word I have treasured in my heart,

That I may not sin against You.”

Psalm 119:11

Taylor says this:

This past year God has showed me that being in His Word, and praying to Him about everything that is going on, and asking Him to help me with my busy schedule helped so much. I started spending more time getting to know God better, which caused me to know that He controls my life. This made me realize that I have stopped thinking about the guys I had "picked" out.

Start spending time with God on a regular basis and He will help you think of so many more edifying things.

This tip is not an option—it’s a must. And it’s not different if you’ve got a good or bad crush. Whether you like an unbeliever or a strong Christian doesn’t change the fact that you must spend time with God.

Spending time with God will affect every area of your life. You will find yourself more cheerful, diligent, and confident, to name a few. It will be easier to fight sin and daydreams. God promises that He will make our paths straight when we rely on His Word. Not convinced? Read this post about why you ought to spend time with God every day.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Practical Tips for Building a Quiet Time Every Day:

-Don’t view it as an option. It’s a must.

-Get a Bible reading plan. You can make it or buy one, like the MacArthur Daily Bible.  When I first started reading the Bible every day, I would just choose a book of the Bible and read through it, a chapter a day. Then I used the MacArthur Daily Bible for two years. Now I’m going through a reading program with my church. Any year-long plan is going to have quite a bit of Scripture to read every day. It might be easier for you to start with something lighter. 

-Set aside a specific time every day. It could be right when you wake up, right before you go to bed, after lunch…etc. Whatever works for you. Just make sure that it’s a long enough time allotment that works every day.

-Have a friend/mentor/family member keep you accountable.

-Read your Bible first. By this, I mean that if you have a great novel or school to read, then read your Bible first. So many times, I’ve stayed up reading other things, looked at the clock and realized it was past midnight. And then I was too tired to read my Bible, or I just let my eyes skim over the page. Put your Bible first.

-Pencils, pens, markers, note cards, and notebooks. 
This is something that I have always done with my Bible reading. I underline verses that I love, and the verses that I really love, I write down on note cards and tape them to my wall. These are the verses I memorize. This is a great way to stay more engaged, interested, and actually glean something out of your reading. Writing down prayers in a notebook can help you stay focused and organize your thoughts.

-Read small enough chunks in your Bible to get something out of it.  
If you’re just starting to read your Bible, it might be easier for you to read a chapter a day and then try to build that up, over time, to 4 or 5.

-Grow your quiet time. 
If you can go longer, then go longer. Don’t just stop at thirty minutes if you could work your way up to an hour. The more time you spend with God, the more you grow, and the more emphatically you’re telling Him that He is first place in your life.  
-Read Women of the Word by Jenn Wilkin to learn how to study the Bible. Read our review of it here.

Has spending time with God been a low or high priority in your life? If low, what do plan on doing to change that? If high, what have you learned from it? Thoughts or stories? Share in the comments!