There’s no better time to open and invest in a spiritual bank account: Here’s how to get started.
Imagine standing on the precipice of despair, questioning the very worth of your existence. As a rabbi and founder of a recovery nonprofit, I still meet people precisely at these critical junctures — individuals grappling with addiction or lost in the void of a meaningless life. People who have lost everything or people who have everything, and yet still cannot find any meaning or joy. People who have lost their sense of worth and so many who never had one from a young age. They come to me not just seeking guidance, but yearning for an answer to a profound and universal question: How do I recover my sense of self-worth? Why do I feel so empty?
Over time, I’ve come to think of them as being in bankruptcy; not of a monetary nature, but a spiritual one. The circumstances of their lives have sucked them dry without a means of replenishing their savings, and caused them to overdraft their spiritual bank accounts.
When it comes to our financial bank accounts, we write checks both large and small. Some, like buying groceries, paying our phone and electric bills, and providing for childcare, are predictable. Others —medical emergencies, broken-down cars, heartbreak, loss of a job, or, as we all just experienced, a global pandemic — far less so. But being financially responsible means budgeting for both our daily needs and for emergencies, creating a cushion to soften the blow of those unexpected charges.
Our spiritual bank accounts should function in just the same way. At moments when circumstances deplete your sense of self-worth, you feel like you don’t have enough in terms of status or wealth, you can make a transfer from your spiritual account to boost your self-esteem.
There’s no better time to open and invest in your spiritual bank account: Here’s how to get started.
Like any bank account, a spiritual bank account requires careful management to ensure long-term growth and stability. This means regularly assessing your practices, habits, and relationships to ensure that they are aligned with your values and priorities. It also means being intentional about making deposits into your spiritual bank account and avoiding practices or behaviors that could deplete it.
I teach my clients that in order to grow, our actions and intensions must be aligned; the same is true when it comes to opening and maintaining a spiritual bank account.
It can be scary to peek into our financial bank accounts and see the balance — but denial won’t help.
Start by recognizing what personal actions you can take when you’re low that make you feel better. Are you a person who needs to journal, cook, or walk by the water? Do you need to call your brother or your mother or make art? Rather than just diving into these activities, set a goal for what you want out of them, such as equanimity or meditation. That level of awareness changes your actions from something that’s rote into something that replenishes your account.
To start, keep your goals realistic: This can be as simple as making your bed or going for a walk. Promising to stick to a 10-day diet and then breaking it 2 days later not only keeps you from making a deposit, but can cause a spiral into shame and guilt, depleting your resources further.
Reflection or prayer — regardless of what version of God you believe in (or none at all) — is another way to build your spiritual bank account. What’s important is spending time bringing attention to our inner worlds, and articulating our wishes. For me, theology is based on interactions with others: If I’m created in God’s image, then to see God all I have to do is to look into somebody else’s eyes. Judaism’s traditions understand that doing something in community is far more potent than doing it alone, and command that even if we receive charity, we’re required to give charity. Being in community and volunteering are both actions that can help to fill up our spiritual bank accounts. And if the challenges you face are so seismic that your overdraft your account, you can draw on that same community to provide spiritual support and guidance.
This framework also allows us to accept some responsibility for our own emotional and spiritual state. Understanding our own sovereignty helps us to realize that we do have choice in our lives. For example, if you have X amount in your spiritual bank account, and you know that it’ll be completely depleted by going to visit your family for a week, perhaps you should plan for just a weekend-long trip. You need to ask yourself what you want, what you can afford, and what the expense means to you.
This leads to resiliency; knowing that when hardship comes, we have enough currency in the bank to persevere. You invest in your financial future with a 401K, and you can invest in your emotional future by moving spiritual material from checking to savings for long-term storage.
It can be scary to peek into our financial bank accounts and see the balance — but denial won’t help. The same is true when it comes to your spiritual bank account. What’s coming to you?
You have to plan ahead. In less than a year, my youngest child is going to leave for college, and I’ll be an empty nester. I can’t just wait until that happens to react; I have to rely on the savings in my spiritual bank account to fill the void that will be created there. Thinking in these terms helps to give my life a sense of organization and gratitude.
These checks and balances in our spiritual lives are not just metaphors but vital tools — lifelines that can pull us and others out of crisis. Just as a bank account mirrors our financial health, our spiritual ledger reflects the wealth of our souls. By intentionally investing in ourselves using the right tools and spiritual finance advisement , we don’t just enrich our own lives; we build a reserve that empowers us to help those standing on the precipice of despair. These spiritual audits aren’t constraints — they’re universal pathways to profound growth and fulfillment accessible to everyone. So I ask: How will you balance your spiritual books to foster deeper meaning in your life and perhaps guide others toward rediscovering their own self-worth?
Rabbi Igael “Iggy” Gurin-Malous is a Talmud teacher, spiritual counselor, artist, and educator.
