Why Should Christians Be Healthy? Health Devotional – 3 John 1:2

What should motivate Christians to be healthy?  Why does God desire that we be healthy?

Here are two excerpts from the book Faith and Health, written by Charles Reynolds Brown (past Dean of the Yale Divinity School) and published in 1910.

“The Lord of Love is seeking to banish fear, to bestow confidence, to increase faith, to promote healing.  He too is desirous that you should gain peace, develop strength, obtain happiness and enter into his rest which remains for the people of God.  While you are working out your own salvation by systematic, persistent effort, God is working with you  and for you to accomplish his good pleasure.”

“The Church of Jesus Christ ought to ‘teach health,’ not as its chief business, but as a leaf on the tree of its main purpose, which, as already indicated, is to produce the good fruit of Christian character and service.”

Why Should Christians Be Healthy? To Bear Fruit in Our Lives

God wants us to be healthy so that we can experience the good “fruit” he has in store for us. The more fruit we have in our life the more glory God receives.

What kind of fruit does God desire us to experience and have a part in?

• Winning souls to Christ. Romans 1:13
• Sharing what we have with those in need. Romans 15:25-28
• Developing Christ-like character – the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23
• Praising God and giving thanks.  Hebrews 13:15

John says that there is no greater joy for those win souls. 3 John 3-4 The believer also has great happiness when they share their possessions with others – “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35  In this verse, the word blessed can be translated  “oh how very happy,” so there is a greater happiness in giving than receiving. When we give we can also experience great peace. Philippians 4:6-7 says that we can have the kind of peace which surpasses all understanding. These three emotions of joy, happiness and peace are a few key ingredients which foster good health.

But good health should not be desired as an end in and of itself. God desires us to have good health, and the emotional and physical energy typically associated with it, because this better enables us to have more fruit in our lives and to better use the gifts and talents that he has given to us to serve others and to serve him. When these things happen we are in God’s will.

When we’re in God’s will, he is glorified. This is why God desires a Christian to be healthy.

“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” 3 John 1:2

Questions to Reflect On:

What is your motivation to be healthy and well?

Is it your experience that the healthier you are the better enabled you are to serve God and others with the gifts he’s given you?

Related Resources:

Faith and Health, the book by Charles Brown, is available as a free Pdf file online.

Article – God Wants You Whole

Read other Health Devotionals

Read how my wellness coaching services can help you become healthier.

America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness

America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness was rolled out yesterday, June 16th by the Federal Government. It’s being called the National Prevention Plan.

I was fortunate to listen to the live simulcast event over the internet and to be part of the followup Question and Answer session. I applaud the leadership efforts of the National Prevention Council for the work they’ve done on this effort and the comprehensive strategy and report. Clearly, our country should have a strong preventive health focus led by our government.

Sadly, this report does not address or include any recommendations concerning care for the spirit and the link between spirit-mind-body that medical research over recent years has proven to exist.

Read my perspective of this new plan and the 122-page document on my guest blog post on Christian Post – America’s Plan for Better Health and Wellness.

Health Through Prayer – Book Review

Health Through Prayer is written by James Everly and published by Steady River Publishing. In the book, Everly uses each chapter to cover some very basic principles that are important for good health. The topics are as addressed on this list:

Chapter 1     Establishing a Practice of Praying for Your Health
Chapter 2     The First Step to Better Health
Chapter 3     Setting Goals
Chapter 4     The Importance of Exercise – Get Moving
Chapter 5     Don’t Go It Alone
Chapter 6     Practicing Moderation and Portion Control
Chapter 7     Standing Up Under Temptation
Chapter 8     The Importance of Sleep and Rest
Chapter 9     Nutrition
Chapter 10    Reducing Stress
Chapter 11    A More Serious Exercise Program
Chapter 12    Forgive Yourself for Mistakes
Chapter 13    Eating More Natural, Less Processed Food
Chapter 14    Making a Healthier Home
Chapter 15    Onward

At the end of each chapter there is a short exercise to do related to the principle and a recommended prayer. As an example, here is the prayer at the end of the chapter titled The Importance of Sleep and Rest.

Lord, I understand the importance of resting each week, and that sufficient sleep is essential to my overall health and to my specific goals of looking and feeling better. Please guide me in taking the necessary steps to make sure that I get more rest, so that I may meet those goals and so that I may better fulfill your vision for me.

The recommend principles are sound and based on advice one might expect to receive from a physician or health educator, even though the author acknowledges that he has no specific health or wellness-related training. If one has a sincere interest in improving his/her health, has a personal relationship with God, through Christ and is diligent in asking God for help by praying the recommended prayers that address each of the covered areas in the book, I’d imagine that he/she would find this book helpful.

The last comment I’d make is that I’d like to have seen the author place more emphasis on the importance of a relationship with God and about prayers having to do with the relationship. The more I grow in my faith and understand God and the Bible, the more I am appreciating that it’s all about the relationship we have with God, through his Son, Jesus. The more we can be in God’s presence, the more we can make it about loving God and worshiping him, the more we seek him, the more we ask God to help us die to our old sinful nature and invite Christ to live through us – the more likely we will experience fruit in our life that will favor being healthy and well.

I believe that it’s when we have that sort of prayerful attitude that we are likely to experience Health Through Prayer.

Receive Affirmations Using Scripture by Text Messages

In the Spring of 2009 I started using Twitter to send out affirmations based on scriptures of the Bible. Read about the value of using scripture to write affirmations that I wrote in a blog post. Then about a year ago I began to add these to the Faith and Health Connection Facebook page.

I’ve continued to do this because I realize how important our thoughts are to how we live our lives. Think Spiritual Thoughts/Renew Your Mind is one of the several Spiritual Exercises I’ve identified as being important to living an abundant and healthy life.

Now, you don’t have to have a Twitter account or ‘like’ the Facebook page to receive these affirmations.  Simply text follow faithandhealth to 40404 and you’ll receive them as I send them out, typically during mid-morning and early evening. This is a Twitter feature called Fast Follow. Read more about how to receive these affirmations as text messages at this link.

Affirmations Using Scripture

Here are many of the affirmations that I’ve tweeted over the past few weeks.  As you read them, consider claiming them as your own!

My inner strength and power is the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8

The scriptures teach me endurance and give me encouragement. Romans 15:4

God guides me in the ways that are best for me to go. Deuteronomy 1:23

The Cross is where my sin and God’s love collided. John 3:16 Read more of this article »

Praying About Your Health – The Research

Last week the New York Times reported that recent research has concluded that more Americans are praying about their health.

According to the report, scientists analyzed data on 30,080 adults ages 18 and older who took part in the National Health Interview Survey in 2002 and on 22,306 adults who participated in 2007. Forty-nine percent of adults said in 2007 that they had prayed about their health during the previous year, up from 43 percent in 2002. The full article, which appeared in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality is available at this link – Praying and Health.

God, man’s creator, inspired men to write the books of the Bible so that we can have instructions on how to live life.  It includes many, many examples of people who prayed in times of distress and trouble, including sickness and poor health.

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint. Old Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. Psalm 6:2

My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I grown in anguish of heart…. Come quickly to help me, old Lord my Savior. Psalm 38:7,8 and 22

Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. Psalm 55:17

Then they cried out to Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. Psalm 107:28

Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord were heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. Deuteronomy 26:7

The research indicates that more people are praying about their health but the data show only the frequency of prayers, not the nature of the prayers or who the prayers were made to.  The Bible is full of guidance that indicates we are to pray to the Lord God, our Creator.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18

God is their refuge and strength, and ever present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

Be thankful that you have a Creator, the Lord our God, who cares about you and hears you when you cry out to him – even during your times of sickness and poor health.

Other Blog Posts About Prayer

Bible Basic Training – Book Review

Winepress Publishing sent me Bible Basic Training, by James and Jeff Jay, to review a few weeks ago. The idea of comparing training in the Bible to training in the Army was of interest to me because I can relate well to both.

In 1969, I enlisted in the Army and participated in Basic Training at Fort Lewis, Washington for about six weeks before I flew to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. After spending a year there, and four years at West Point, I served 20 years as an officer in the Army. Four of those years were at the Army Fitness School. A renewed and exploding faith has energized me to spend the last six years writing and speaking about the link between the Christian faith and health.

In Bible Basic Training, Jeff and James Jay accurately use the analogy of becoming spiritually fit in the Christian faith and becoming fit to be a soldier in the Army. Just as certain skills and competencies are required to succeed as a soldier in the Army, there are a set of basic skills and knowledge needed to be fit as a “Soldier in God’s Army.” In the book, the Jay brothers hit upon many of the key principles that are outlined in the Bible which will especially help a seeker or a new believer understand key aspects of the Christian faith.

Those who have spent any time in the service will especially relate to the terms that are used in the book – infiltration, land navigation, soldier skills, commander and fitness test to name a few. Whether you’re a seeker or new believer or whether or not you’ve served in the military, Bible Basic Training will help you understand several core principles to become spiritually fit …. with Jesus Christ as your Commander in Chief.

Other Book Reviews.