Benefits of Journaling

I’ve noticed many people from OSL carrying their journals around with them wherever they go, marking chapel message notes and other personal thoughts in them throughout the day. During prayer today, I decided to try it for myself and noticed many, many benefits of it! I think its a useful discipline for people who might ask themselves many questions, or analyze things, or who are going through a difficult time internally.

Writing down the things that occur throughout your day will give you opportunity to understand why you do and say the things you do. It seems, though, that its important to find the best journaling format for you to use, because everyone is different. Doing so might allow you to have a much greater understanding of yourself, where you are at spiritually, and where you could be headed.

The format I’ve chosen is a simple one; anytime I notice a thought, negative or positive, I’m pulling out my journal and marking it for later reflection. When someone says something encouraging, or when I feel defeated for a moment after some event or comment made, or whenever I feel as if I failed the Lord in some way, I quickly make note and continue on my day. Using this format, a day’s journal entry may look something like this:

“Passed by a friend today and was really encouraged by their gentle spirit. This is something I should strive for. I noticed myself satisfying my pride in conversation with someone today; I took opportunity to slyly gossip about someone from the program. Felt the Spirit of the Lord whisper to me that I should stay extra alert today; He wishes to speak something special into my heart. I will be more aware of conversation and incidents.”

So, then, the wording is simple and to the point. I quickly say what happened, what was said, and how I reacted or what I could gain from it. It is an awesome way to set some great growth opportunities in concrete, as well as to slow my thoughts down to the pace of a pen on paper. That allows me to get them from an abstract place (in your mind) into reality (on paper). This way, I am forced to choose my words intentionally, and I am able to savor them, as well as spend a few conscious minutes debriefing with the Lord.