Good Health
Good Health
Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically just as you are spiritually. (3 John 2)
Body and Soul
We tend to take our health for granted until we get sick or are in pain. We can’t help but pay attention then. But the thing we don’t often realize is just how important our bodies are to our spiritual life. You really can’t separate the immaterial part of us from the material. We are both body and soul, and each affects the other.
Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” We may not completely understand the connection between emotional health and physical health, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Our emotions affect our body profoundly. Likewise, taking care of our physical bodies can do our souls a lot of good. Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:8 that “the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way.” Yes, training the body has its limits, but it is beneficial!
Pay Attention
We need to learn to pay attention to what’s going on in our body. Are we tense? Why? What are we thinking about that is causing us to take shallow breaths? What is causing our stomach to churn? We often talk about having a “gut feeling” about something. That’s more than just figurative language. That’s real. That’s our God-given intuition in action. Same thing with having a “broken heart.” We can actually feel emotional pain in our heart; it’s not just a physical organ that pumps out blood. Our bodies speak to us.
Bottom Line
If we neglect our bodies, we neglect our souls.