Tips to Maintain Your Faith This Summer

School is over. Summer is starting. You have way more free time. What do you do with it? In the modern world, you'll probably be told to rot in bed all day, to be outside doing things you know you should not be doing, or to be a workaholic all summer. As a Christian, do you genuinely believe God would tell you to spend your time like this? No! God wants you to spend your time wisely, because you can't get that time back. Listed below are tips to have an intentional summer with God.

1. Dedicate A Time Of Day To God Whether it be in the morning or night, make it a habit to spend time with God. This can look like reading the Bible, praying, and/or fasting. It is easier to make this a habit when your brain knows something will happen at a set time. The same way how waking up triggers your brain to start the day with actions such as brushing your teeth, you can train your brain to do this when it comes to the Lord!
   

2. Get Moving Physical activity isn’t always going to be directly proportional with your motivation to stay close to God. However, it allows you to take care of the body He gave you, and often times we have a clearer mind and are more able to accomplish other tasks. This can look like going on a walk/run or hitting the gym while listening to your favorite worship music or Christian podcasts.
   

3. Keep In Contact With Other Christians It is so easy to isolate from godly people when you are stuck in the house or are tempted to be in areas of sin, but find your community in church, online servers, or friends. Be birds of a feather with people who want to fly to the same place that you want to!

4. Limit Your Screen Time At surface level, it may seem insignificant and unrelated, but our phones are truly like a hardcore drug. They are addicting and suck us in, wasting all of our time. We plan to scroll through TikTok for 5 minutes, which somehow turns into 2 hours. This not only wastes our time but also burns our brain power! These 2 hours watching 10 second videos of useless things could’ve been put towards something productive. Sitting on our phones is lazy, which is something the Lord warns us against. So, try and set goals for yourself. Try limiting your screen time. Most devices have accommodations for this in the settings! You can enjoy your free time of course, but don’t let that free time consume you.

5. Create A Schedule Now that school is over and it is summertime, it’s hard to plan out our days accordingly. We are used to school taking up so many hours of our day, that we don’t know what to do with them now! Sit down and create a schedule for yourself. Include productive things, such as exercise or reading or a new hobby! Include God in your schedule and dedicate time to glorifying Him. It’s not easy to follow a schedule like this on the first go but push yourself to achieve these goals. Start small, and gradually build to having productive days!