What About Physical Health?

We’ve discussed mental and spiritual health, but what about physical health?

I think physical health kinda gets put on the back burner in the spiritual world. However, I believe we as God’s people, are called to be good stewards of our physical health as well as our mental and spiritual.

How can we be good stewards of our bodies?

FUEL
What do we put into them? How do we view our fuel? I think that food has a lot of purpose. When we sit around a table with others it’s many times a place of comfort and community, a way to fellowship. Jesus invited people to tables often and reclined at tables with His disciples. Eating with people should be enjoyable, comfortable and something we make a habit of doing. I think it is good to enjoy our meals. I think it’s also good to not put harmful things into our bodies. God made delicious food grow right up out of the ground. Preparing those things for others is a beautiful ritual. When we treat our bodies like a dumpster, no wonder they act like one. But here’s the thing, I don’t have the time to always prepare a meal and eat it with someone I love, so I run through the drive through and inhale it on my way to my next task… that’s the reality, because I allow it to be. If I actually saw meal times as opportunities to share love and conversation I might not allow that reality. I challenge you and I this week to make the effort to eat with others as well as to consider the content of our food and make attempts to better it.

EXERCISE
Our bodies grow stagnant just like our spirituality. If we don’t challenge them, they get weak and complacent. It doesn’t have to be extreme but we need to strive to challenge our bodies and get them moving.

REST
Our bodies need rest. They need it. They cannot function well without rest. Rest is trusting God that even if you don’t break your back getting every household item done on your to-do list or don’t work overtime this week, the sky will not fall. When we continue to go forward when our minds and body’s call timeout, many times we are doing more harm than good, taking steps backwards instead of forwards. Now I’m not saying that some situations don’t call for going past what you think you can give, perseverance etc. however, I do think rest must be integrated into our lifestyle if we desire to live peaceful and healthy lives. Work ethic is great and godly. Never resting is foolish and harmful.

COMMUNITY
From workout buddies to dinner dates, community is wildly important. Without community it’s impossible to be healthy. Find someone who motivates you to move daily and move daily with them. Find others to eat with, cook with, converse with. ask others to hold you accountable to your health goals. Community is powerful and can propel us forward.

Okay, so why is it important for a Christ follower to be a good steward of their physical health? I believe it shows gratitude to God for the body He has given us. If you gave me a gift and I poured grease on it and left it on the couch for a week, you’d probably think I wasn’t all that grateful for it and you would be very right. We can show thankfulness to God by taking care of our bodies. Another reason is because it’s an area in our lives to exercise discipline. When we are physically disciplined it helps us be better disciplined in other areas. Physical health improves our mental and emotional health hands down and I would argue our spiritual health as well, we are whole people, let’s start looking at ourselves holistically.