4:238 – Body, Mind, and Spirit

#faithbites #faithjourney body

Setting

Last night I asked for prayers for the shots I had today. One person replied that if I was hoping for healing, I should read a book called the Body Keeps The Score. It talks about how our mind, trauma, can impact our health. There is definitely truth to that. After I had my shots and was in recovery, I talked to the nurse and we had a good conversation about the body and mind connection. More stress equals more pain. Good mental health better outlook for physical recovery. We need healthier minds and healthier bodies. They are connected.

We often overlook the third leg of that stool: spiritual health. While the body and mind are connected, they are given by God and connected to our spirit. We need to take as much care of our spiritual well being as we do our physical and mental.

Today’s Questions: Of the three areas of health, which one.so you prioritize? If it isn’t your spiritual health, what can you do to improve it?

Scripture:

• Exodus 23:25 – You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you
• 3 John 1:2 – Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
• Galatians 5:22-23- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Reflection

As we look at our verses, we should see a common theme. Our well being is tied to our spiritual health. These Exodus passage says it’s very clearly: Be strong in faith and you will have food and physical health. 3 John says that good health goes with good soul. Finally, and most simply, God explains in Galatians that if we have a healthy spirit, we get all the things we need. And as they say, the best things in life aren’t things! Peace, love, goodness, pariencez, faithfulness and more. This is what we seek. It also shouldn’t be a surprise that when these are in line, we have better mental health and better physical health. God rewards us richly.

The hard part of this is most of us rank the three types of health in this order: physical, mental, and spiritual. In society, we often talk about physical ailments but mental health is still taboo. As you know, I work at a med school, and most physicians don’t bring up the spiritual health side at all. It’s even more taboo than mental health. How can we as individuals, work towards making spiritual health a higher priority? For me, it’s writing #faithbites, going to worship services, and praying daily. I know I can do more to get that leg of the stool in line. How about you?

As we close, think again about how you prioritize mind,.body, and spirit. Create a specific action plan to .ake sure just as you go to the doctor regularly for your physical checkups, you are getting mental healthy checkups and visiting your Father to help your spiritual health. .

Prayer

Lord Jesus, hear our prayers. You are clear that spiritual health leads to great mental and physical healthy but sometimes we don’t listen. We go to the doctor when we have aches and pains but don’t come to you when our spirit is aching. Forgive us. We pray that you help us prioritize our spiritual health. Give us the words, the determination, and help we need to come to you on a regularly basis and improve our all around health. We ask this in your name, Amen.