{I shared some of my notes from Temple Care 101 almost a year ago, but having just spoken on this subject a couple of weeks ago reignited my passion, so I wanted to revisit it and make the handouts available to you too!}
While often discarded as Eastern mysticism, I firmly believe the concept of Wellness is dear to God’s heart, after all…He made us this way, integrated human beings, with mind, body and spirit intertwined.
The bible says that Jesus came to bring us abundant life. In the original Greek, the word ‘abundant’ is ‘perissos’. This means life so ridiculously in excess that we cannot contain it. Superfluous, even.
Life this rich and vibrant cannot be achieved fully without health in all three areas: mind (will/emotions), body and spirit.
Plato even grasped this concept a whopping 399 years before Christ, stating…“you ought not to attempt to cure the eyes without the head, or the head without the body.…the body without the soul. For the part can never be well unless the whole is well.”
A true appreciation – and the resulting love for and care of our bodies – will only come naturally when we realize how stunningly, intentionally and miraculously we have been created. We are a masterpiece, conceived in the heart of a mighty God even before we were ever woven together – with purpose and passion – in our mother’s wombs. Do we really get this? It’s magnificent!
“Didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (The Message)
We need to use wisdom & common sense when it comes to taking care of these amazing bodies of ours. I think it’s fair to say the vast majority of us know exactly what we should be doing – and shouldn’t be – and yet continue on in our destructive ways.
What would it take for us to realize how beautiful, how valuable, how precious our bodies are?
I guarantee you, no matter how old and decrepit your ‘ride’ might be, you know what makes it run. Mountain Dew and donuts would destroy your car. Because it requires a specific fuel to function. And so do we! How we choose to fuel our bodies makes all the difference in the world! And how much more precious are we than a rusty old jalopy (or even a sexy new mustang)?
Our physical health effects our emotional health, which effects our spiritual health, which effects our physical health and our emotional healthy, which…well, you get the point.
“The body becomes the battlefield for the war games of our mind. All the unresolved thoughts and emotions, the negativity we hold on to, show up in the body and makes us sick” Brian Seward, PhD
What we put in our mouths, what we allow to take root in our hearts, and how we use our bodies directly impacts how well we function as an integrated human being.
I don’t know about you, but I want to live the ‘perissos’ life and live it to the best of my ability.
I simply cannot do it with a sick, fatigued, unhealthy body, a faithless heart and an unstable mind.
But on the flip-side of that…imagine the joy of living with all these areas aligned and healthy!
“Our research and amazing new scientific technology are continually adding exciting new evidence that our Great Creator, God, has equipped us with marvelous mechanisms by which, through faith in him, our spiritual beliefs and behaviors can actually help heal us” Harold G. Koenig, M.D., Duke University
The powerful synergy that is created when our minds, our bodies, and our spiritual lives are healthy and growing (note that I didn’t say ‘perfect’!), enable us to experience the fullness of life God intended for us!
Handouts: Food, Glorious Food (Nutrition Basics) ~ Wellness Evaluation: Body, Mind & Spirit ~ Get Off Your Blessed Assurance And Get Moving! (Physical Fitness Basics) ~ 10 Commandments of Health and Wellness
Got your handouts printed? Good, let’s move on!
So what now? What do you do with this mass of information I set before you {information we all actually know, we just fail to implement)?
Start small.
What can you do today, tomorrow, this week, that will have a positive impact on your nutrition…your level of activity…your emotions and mental health…your journey with God?
Sit down with a pen and slowly work through the Wellness Evaluation. Start a journal. Plan and dream. What are your goals? What does your heart desire in each of these areas? What do you want to see changed? What baby steps can you take toward those goals?
There’s a story that tells of tribal hunters who, in their effort to catch monkeys, would nail a coconut to the trunk of a tree, drilling a hole just large enough for a monkey to insert his hand, and then insert a banana. What a brilliant plan! The silly monkey would come along, reach in, grab the banana and – with his tightly-clenched fist stuck inside the coconut – await his fate.
All it had to do to escape – and get free – was let go of the banana and pull out it’s hand. The short-sighted, impulsive nature of the monkey demanded it’s banana, at the expense of it’s life.
So friend, I ask you…what soggy, coconut-scented banana are you clinging to?
What counterfeit are you settling for that now has you stuck? What do you need to let go of that is holding you captive to a less-than-abundant life?
Think about it.
I have good news for you. The One who so lovingly created you, and who has magnificently delightful plans for you, wants you healthy and whole even more than you want it. What a thought!
Know that your wellness is not a vain pursuit…it’s the difference between surviving and thriving.
And YOU were made to thrive!
“May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together – spirit, soul, and body – and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!” 1 Thessalonians 5:23
