10 Tips for Beating a Crush: Tip 5

            If you missed the first several posts in this series, I highly encourage you to go back and read them!

            10 Tips for Beating a Crush: The Heart

            10 Tips for Beating a Crush: Tip 1

            10 Tips for Beating a Crush: Tip 2

            10 Tips for Beating a Crush: Tip 3

            10 Tips for Beating a Crush: Tip 4

5. Stay busy

Stay busy, but not stressed! Check out the articles, “10 Tips for Reducing Stress: Part 1” and “10 Tips for Reducing Stress: Part 2.”  

Don’t give yourself a chance to slow down and get all emotional and romantic. Daydreaming, especially, is hard to fight if you’re bored! So go play with siblings, your dog, or whatever. Do something nice for your mom or dad. Clean your room. Write a guest blog post. :) Do homework. Write cards! Work on hobbies! The list is limitless.

Staying busy and building healthy habits of diligence will be very helpful in fighting a crush. However, be careful of getting too busy and spending less time with God. The idea is to spend plenty of time with God, but keep busy enough to not give yourself a chance to dwell on your crush.

God has blessed me with an extremely hard working family that will not tolerate laziness. From an early age, my parents have instilled in me the importance of diligence and I’m very thankful for that. Staying busy—especially with things like Morning Glory!—has always been an incredible help for me.

I would encourage you to get involved in your church, and other ministries. This is one of the best ways to stay focused on God, serve other people, and not get distracted by a crush. When you spend your time doing the Lord’s work, it gives you a perspective on your own struggles. The things we struggle with, like not getting any attention from our crush or having him not respond to a text, can seem so silly compared to people who are dealing with the loss of a loved one, a crisis pregnancy, or homelessness.

You will hear lots of talk here on Morning Glory about your ministry potential. What is ministry potential? It’s how much time, energy, and love you can pour into ministry. The girls who have the most ministry potential are the ones who are willing to spend much of their time and energy serving, but are also unhindered by other things. For instance, a girl pining away over her unrequited love isn’t going to have as much ministry potential as someone who has whole-heartedly accepted her singleness for the furthering of God’s kingdom.
God places us in seasons for a time and for a purpose. Do not waste your single season by pining away for a guy. God has a purpose and calling for you higher than daydreaming. 

Married women with families aren’t going to have the same type of ministry potential that a single girl will. Single girls often will have more time, flexibility, and energy to focus on serving at church or in a community.

God has given you these single years for you to go hard after Him. God has given you more time for ministry than you may ever have again. He’s given you all the resources you need to make a difference and to pursue Jesus with your whole heart.

Use these years that God has given you for ministry. You won’t regret it.  Staying busy with ministry will have many rewards:

·          You learn to take the focus off yourself and onto others.

·          You learn to put serving and obeying God first.

·          The guys you will attract will be the ones serious about their walk with Christ. These guys will be more drawn to your heart for God than your looks. These guys are the ones that will make godly husbands one day.

·          You don’t have time to daydream, pine away, and throw pity parties.

·          And you will develop so many more godly character traits.

Practical Tips for Staying Busy:

            -If you find that you have time to daydream, brainstorm ways you can get more involved in ministry.

            -Look for opportunities in your church to serve.  
        Do they need a preschool Sunday school teacher? More backup vocalists for the worship team? Someone to wipe down tables after fellowship time? Pinpoint a need and meet it. If you don’t have a church, then FIND ONE.

            -What are you passions/gifts/talents? 
        For me, I’m passionate about teen girls and I love to write—the result was Morning Glory. Figure out what you’re good at and what you love. Find your special ministry niche.

            -Remember that service starts at home.  
        Yeah, this isn’t going to be the most glamorous work, but it’s the work that will build your character and define you. You can serve your family in more ways than you can serve anything else. Service can mean keeping your room clean, loving your siblings, obeying with a cheerful heart, submission, humility, doing your chores, doing the dishes when no one is looking, etc. True humility serves even when it goes unnoticed.

“For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.”

2 Thessalonians 3:11

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

Galatians 6:9

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

1 Corinthians 15:58

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

2 Peter 1:10

Do you find you have extra time every day? What are some ways you plan on getting more involved in ministry? What are things that you are already doing to stay busy? Thoughts or stories? Share in the comments!