Biblical Big
Idea #6: Matthew 22:37: “And Jesus Said, Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Steps
Taken:_________________
Miles
Journeyed: ______________
Exercise
Chosen: ______________
Spiritual
Thoughts: _____________
Feelings: _____________________
Day Six: The
Mind, Body and Spirit Connection
Research
supports the notion that mind, body and spiritual health are all
connected. In fact, the World Health
Organization’s definition of health is a state of “complete physical, mental,
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This definition has not changed since
1948. As a Christian, I also believe,
and a great deal research supports that spiritual wellbeing is also essential
for physical and mental health. When we
are not “right” with our spirit, our bodies and minds can fail. Spiritual illnesses can cause great mental
pain and anguish. Similarly, physical
and mental infirmity can cause a strain on the spirit. There are stories of people whose doctors
could find nothing physically wrong with a patient and yet continued to fail in
their well being because their spirit was so ill.
Conversely,
strong mental, spiritual and/or physical health can help you overcome disease
and illness of the mind or body when they are threatened. Taking care of your mind, body and spirit is
good for the mind, body and spirit.
When Jesus
heals the paralytic in Luke 5: 17-26, Jesus first had to heal the man’s spirit before
He could heal his body. Jesus drove evil
spirits from minds and souls in order to heal.
Jesus knew that these individuals must be reconciled with Him in order
to attain the healing they sought. Faith
has healed many people.
If we look
back on our discussion about the things we want to change about ourselves, the
things (smoking, drinking, food, stress, etc) are our addictions and
vices. We often turn to these things
before turning to God in order to cope.
We look for solace in food or alcohol or drugs in an attempt to manage
our spiritual, mental, or physical distress, thereby compounding our
problems. Before we can become strong
physically, we often need to address these addictions and seek help in putting
them behind us. Only then can we put God
in their place.
I smoked back
in college. I was a nursing student and
smoked. If I could have had a big fat
“idiot” plastered across my forehead, well, I had it, even if I did not see
it. The smoking started after a bad
breakup, and as the stress of school and as the impending independence from my
parents loomed, my smoking habit got worse.
It seemed like a harmless way to deal with the stress in my life. I also felt very cool and mature. Then I met my future husband and he was none-too-pleased
with my nasty habit, so I started the journey to quit. I knew that, thanks to
four years of nursing school, tobacco use is a terrible habit. Even though I was not a heavy smoker, nor did
I use it for an extended length of time, I found smoking incredibly addictive. Although I quit smoking, I found the stress
of a patient dying on the ward would send me back to sneaking a smoke on a
break with the other nurses. Then I would feel guilty and try to hide it from
my husband. This was a short but vicious
cycle until I thought about my three most important things. This habit was keeping from my relationship
with God. I could have chosen to talk to
God about my stress, my anxiety, my problems and my grief, but it was a lot
easier for me to turn to a smoke. It was
terrible to my health and the fact I tried to hide it from my family was just
plain wrong. There was nothing about my
habit that was supporting the three most important things in my life.
In order to
finally quit smoking for good, I turned to God in prayer and prayed that he
would give me the strength to overcome this habit. I prayed that my desire for the nicotine
would be banished. I have never smoked
since. I feel no desire for cigarettes
since that time. I give thanks to God
for the strength he gave me. I have
learned to replace my bad habits with healthier habits of prayer, physical
exercise, and mental exercise. And these
healthy habits can replace many unhealthy habits if you arm yourselves with the
tools of success. We will talk more
about additional tools to success as we go through the chapters. But do not doubt that you can be
successful. I know you can and God knows
you can. Don’t be the one to say, “I
can’t.”
You have the
Christ Spark inside you. What a precious
thing we all carry! As a mother, I think
of my Christ Spark like the child I carried in my womb for nine months. We all have this spark and we can joyfully
nurture this spark and take care of its temple so that it can do marvelous
things in the world. “Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed
you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah
1:5. God has a purpose for every
person. And every purpose when fulfilled
to the glory of God is a good thing.
Thoughts to
Ponder:
1.
What is your purpose right now at this point
in your life?
2.
Has
your purpose changed? Do you think it
will change in the future?
3.
How
does your purpose make you feel?
4.
Do
you think you need to re-think your purpose to ensure the three most important
things in your life are a part of it?
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