About a year ago I was asked a very thought provoking question by my oldest son.  His question was something like this – “What is the single belief you have that has the greatest impact on how you live your life?”

That is a tough question and I had never been asked that or pondered my beliefs in such a way. How would you answer this question? Think about that for a bit before you continue reading. Really now….. pause and think on this for a minute or two.

Okay. Would your response be something like one of the following? God loves me. I am a child of God. Because I treat others like I want to be treated, I am treated well.  I trust God no matter what happens in my life.

Drew, my son, shared his answer to this question with me and for the last year, I have adopted it as my answer.

The Bible is Truth

That is how I answer the question now. The single belief that I have that most impacts on how I live my life is that the Bible is truth.  This belief has profound impact on my life in many, many ways.

Because I believe that the Bile is truth I desire to know what it says so I read it almost daily.  I study it.  I think about it, or meditate on what it says, throughout the day when I can.  Because I understand that what I think about strongly affects my speaking and behavior, I write out and speak affirmations that are based on scripture….. and send them out over Twitter for others to receive. (See the right sidebar on my blog)

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The truths that I read in the Bible give me hope, strength and wisdom for daily living.  Knowing that God inspired men to write the books of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17) helps me know that the Bible contains God’s guidelines on how he wants me to live my life. It teaches me how to handle the stressful circumstances that life throws at me.  It teaches me how to be in relationships with other people, including my wife, my children and my parents and siblings. The Bible gives me principles for taking care of my emotional and physical health.

The Bible also reveals to me how to have a full and abundant life here on this earth and how I can be assured of living eternally – forever and ever – after I die here. (John 3:16 and John 10:10)

Because I believe - I know – that the Bible is truth, I have a deep, deep peace, joy and love in my heart and this motivates me to share what I believe… what I know… with others.

Questions to Reflect On

What is the single belief that you have that most impacts on how you live your life?

Are you being true to that belief?  Are you “living it out?”

Are you sharing this belief with others? If so, what impact is it having on their lives?

Related Resources

Christian Principles that are Health-Promoting

Scriptures Related to Strength, Stress and Health

His Instruction Manual – Our Guidebook for Healthy Living

Bible Scriptures as Affirmations

An Invitation

• I invite you to share your most important belief in the comment section so that others might benefit.
• Forward this post along to others or use the social media buttons below to share.

An Inspiring Day

As I’ve pulled this together, all my senses have been engaged. I’ve been sipping on a few cups of great tasting coffee, listening to the trickling of the water in our small fountain, hearing the birds chirp, listening to a playlist of soft, instrumental Christian music on iTunes, feeling the warm spring air as it breezes through an open window, and seeing the bright sun shine on the trees and flowers in the back yard. It’s been quite an inspiring morning and early afternoon!

Understanding the Faith and Health Connection

This is, I believe, the essence of the faith and health connection:

God designed us in a marvelous way. Our nervous system, endocrine system and immune system are interconnected such that our beliefs, emotions and thinking patterns have a direct impact on our physical health.

Our emotions and thoughts related to life events and our relationships will be either health-enhancing or disease-enhancing.

We all inherited a sinful nature at birth. Apart from God, it’s our natural tendency to be selfish and rebellious. How we choose to react to life events and how we live in relationship with God, ourselves and others will have a significant effect on our health.

When we try to cope with the stressors of life and to meet our deepest needs apart from God and by our own resources it’s often in ways that are sinful and unhealthy. These self-sufficient and rebellious attitudes, thinking patterns and behaviors often become habits that have a negative impact on our emotional, spiritual and physical health.

Bitterness, resentment, anger, guilt, shame, insecurity, jealousy, low self worth, fear, worry and anxiety have to do with our relationship with God, others and ourselves.  These beliefs and emotions along with their associated spirit-mind-body interactions can have a negative impact on our health.

The repression of strong negative emotions as well as thinking about the respective painful memories can also have harmful effects on our physical health.

The addictive behaviors and personal habits that many of us have in an effort to escape from or cope with these uncomfortable relationship-related issues can also be harmful to our emotional and physical health.

God inspired the writers of the Bible to share his truths with us. By reading the Bible we can learn about God and how much he loves us.  The principles found in the Bible tell us how to have the full life that He desires for us.  Choosing to believe these principles and to live by them can create an environment that is favorable to good health.

Because God loves us, Jesus died for our sins so that we might have a full and eternal life. He came to free us from the self-sufficient and sinful nature that keeps us from experiencing flourishing relationships and a full life.

God’s greatest commandment is to love God and to love others as we love ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31)

God has given us free will.  We can choose whether or not to receive his love and fully live out his greatest commandment and apply the life-giving principles found in the Bible.

As we incorporate the truths of the Bible into our life, live in relationship with Jesus, and are dependent on God’s Holy Spirit, we can experience love, joy, peace, forgiveness and hope. Love and forgiveness can also be more easily and more fully extended to others and to ourselves. This will promote inner healing which favors health and wholeness and a full and abundant life.

God also enables us, with the power of his Holy Spirit, to live according to His principles and to make healthy lifestyle-related choices.

Improved health, in general, will better enable us to use the talents and gifts God has given us to serve others and to live out our life purpose.

As we acknowledge the role that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have played in our lives and enabled us to be healthy, God receives glory.

Questions to Reflect On:

Are their any relationships in your life that require healing? This includes your relationship with yourself and God as well as with other people.

Are their principles of the Christian faith that you’ve neglected and if practiced would lead to a more abundant life?

Have you experienced God’s love and forgiveness by accepting Jesus in your heart?

Selected Resources

1-Page Article – Understanding the Spirituality-Health Connection

A Faith and Health Connection Web Page  – The Connection

Web Site - Steps to Peace with God

Related Scripture

See the page on Beliefs of the Ministry

Spirituality and Health – A Working Model

This is a somewhat creative attempt to capture my ideas on many of the key aspects of the connection between one’s faith and their health.  I used a mind mapping website to create this. It has limitations, but I’m pretty pleased with the connections it allows and the associated graphics.

Any feedback you’d like to provide would be appreciated.

What key components are missing?

Any links not made that should be?

Resources on the Spirituality and Health Link

Article – Understanding the Spirituality and Health Connection

Blog Posts – Spirituality and Health Tag

Wholeness

Used as an adjective, the word whole comes from the Greek words of holos and holokleros meaning all, entire and complete. These two words come from the noun holokleria meaning completeness.

In the biblical context of health and wellness, wholeness might mean being well in spirit, mind and body.  In Paul’s letter of encouragement to the Christians living in Thessalonica, he addresses an aspect of their wholeness when he prays for them:

“Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.”   1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Spirit, Soul and Body

Paul refers to the three major aspects of man’s being – his spirit, soul and body.  We are not beings of separate and distinctively different components, but a whole person.  We are a spirit who has a soul that lives in a body.  All of these aspects of man are inextricably interwoven. To be whole, to be complete, each aspect of a person must be well.  When any aspect of our being is not well, the other aspects are adversely affected.

Medicine today focuses on the care for a person’s body.  Physical health is important so that we can function and do the things God would want us to do with our body. Being physically active, eating well, getting enough sleep and being addiction free are some of the more important things we ought to do to care for our bodies.

It’s also important to care for our soul – to manage our emotions the best we can, to monitor our thinking patterns and to make healthy choices.  Our soul-life is impacted by our spirit and the ‘gateway’ through which this primarily happens is in our mind.  I think this is why Paul reminds us that we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:2) Our mindset and our thinking patterns can truly and radically transform us. For the good or for the worse.  For life or for death. The only way we can understand the key truths of life is to be exposed to what God’s guidelines for living are as found in the Bible. The Bible holds the keys to being whole and living well. We must not only understand God’s principles, we must live them to be whole.

Finally, since we are first and foremost a spirit, our spirit must be well because this aspect of us is our core.  When God breathed into Adam the breath of life, he became a living being. (Genesis 2:7) It is the spirit of man that gives him real life.  We live out this life and interact with the physical realm with the five senses of our body.  And it is deep in our soul that our emotions and our minds impact our our choices and subsequent physical behavior.

We are sinful by nature. We inherit a spirit of death and this sinful nature as it is passed down by Adam’s original sin. (1 Corinthians 15:22) Before salvation, our ingrained habits and lifestyle choices give us certain natural tendencies.  Our life experiences contribute to our personalities.  After salvation and we are born again spiritually, our challenge is to allow the Spirit of God to transform us into being the kind of person he calls us to be. We must consciously choose to have an attitude of submission to God and a dependence on him to become whole, starting with our spirit.

Being Transformed and Becoming Whole

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, God’s Spirit, his Holy Spirit, begins to live inside us.  As we willfully allow, our spirit is affected by the Holy Spirit.  Our spirit begins to take on the attributes of the Holy Spirit.  This new nature will begin to affect our soul.  Our entire mindset about God, our self, others and life can be transformed. Our thought patterns can become different. In turn, we can radically change many of our emotions and how we react to life circumstances. As we are guided by God’s principles as found in the Holy Bible, our resulting choices and behaviors will become more and more in line with how God wants us to live.  This is how we become sanctified and holy. This is how we become a complete or whole person in spirit, soul and body.

So often, we try to make major changes in our life on our own strength. We leave God out of the picture. You can not achieve a good degree of wholeness in your own strength and abilities.  The type of transformation that brings a sense of wholeness can only be done by the one who created you – by God himself. If we are to be whole, we must invite God into the deepest part of who we are – into our spirit and into our soul – so that from the inside out, we can be transformed into the type of person God wants us to be.

Our spirit, soul and body are constantly interacting together, as a whole, as a complete person.  That’s the way God designed us.  And Paul, inspired by God’s Spirit, shares the secret to being whole.  It’s God himself who can change us through and through, in our entire being, if we desire this and ask him to.  Paul tells us that “the one who calls us is faithful to do this.”

Questions to Reflect On:

To what degree are you whole in spirit, soul and body?

What behavior changes might you be attempting to make in your life?  Are you trying to change from the outside in, or from the inside out?

Are you asking God to make a transformation first in your spirit, by the power of his Spirit?

Resources on Wholeness

Web Page – How God Designed Us – A Three-Part Whole

Article – God Wants You Whole

Wellness Coaching -  Faith-based one-on-one coaching to assist with behavior changes

Osteoporosis is the most widespread degenerative disease in the developed world, afflicting 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over 50.

Despite the accumulating evidence for a connection between depression and decreased bone density, official authorities, such as the US National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, have not yet acknowledged depression as a risk factor for osteoporosis, due to the lack of studies in large samples.

A study of several research efforts including thousands of people by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers has shown a clear connection between depression and a loss of bone mass, leading to osteoporosis and fractures. The results, say the researchers, show clearly that depressed individuals have a substantially lower bone density than non-depressed people and that depression is associated with a markedly elevated activity of cells that breakdown bone (osteoclasts).

What the Bible Says

God inspired writers of the Bible to share his truth and principles about the connection between our emotional and spiritual health and our physical health.  Take a look at the following verses related to this topic:

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones .“  Proverbs 14:30

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” Proverbs 3:7-8

“My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.” Psalm 31:10

What You Can Do

Seek to have a cheerful heart.

If you’re carrying bitterness towards someone, forgive them.

Have a reverential fear of God and his principles, and turn away from evil and sin.

If you’re jealous towards someone, ask God to take that nature away from you.  Be content with what you have and trust God to provide for your most basic and deepest needs.

If you are a believer in Christ, turn to God in a more dependant and surrendered way and allow his  Spirit to have more influence and control of your thought life and attitude.  Ask him to change you… to transform you from the inside out. (Romans 12:2)

As we walk with God in a personal way, following his commandments and principles out of love, we are able to become more and more like his Son, Jesus.  This transformation brings us greater inner peace, gentleness and joy. This often goes hand in hand with good physical health.

God seems to make it pretty clear in the Bible – the guidebook he has given us to live by.  Perhaps this is the best explanation concerning the link between depression and bone health.

Questions to Reflect On

What has your experience been regarding depression and bone health?  Can you personally see a link between the scriptures listed above and your health?

Related Resources

Article – Forgiveness

Article – His Instruction Manual … Our Guidebook for Healthy Living

Article – Spirituality and Your Health – Understanding the Connection

God’s Promises – Scriptures related to depression from InTouch Ministries

It’s so very clear to me that God did inspire the authors of the Holy Bible to write what they did so that we can know the one true God and how he wants us to live our life. See 2 Timothy 3:16.

When I learned of the initiative below, it seemed like a no-brainer to share it with the readers of this blog.  Hope that one or two of you might be the recipients of a Bible so you can have the opportunity to know His truth, if you don’t already.

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

I was fortunate to spend two class periods with 12 students discussing spiritual fitness and wellness as  Terry Sellers, a professor in the Science and Biology department, asked me to supplement his course, ‘Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Wellness’ with my material.  For the most part, I used content from the workshop package “Your Personal Wellness – What’s Faith Got to Do with It?”

I am encouraged that the students were very interested in discussing how the spiritual, emotional and physical aspects of health and wellness are intertwined.  They appreciated the opportunity to take the Spiritual Fitness Assessment that I’ve developed and talk about the relevance of the various Spiritual Exercises in their personal lives.  As a followup discussion to that, we spent most of the second class discussing how the application of other Christian principles might affect their emotional and physical health.  We used the poster presentation I made at this year’s annual meeting of the Society of Spirituality, Theology and Health as a springboard for this discussion.  They had a difficult time selecting the 10 most relevant principles of the 41 I identified in my presentation.  It made for a lively and worthwhile discussion!

As I think about my time with these young adults, I am encouraged that they had some time dedicated to reflect on and discuss the interrelated nature of our spirit, soul and body and the relevance to their personal lives.  I’m also thankful that the professor and the school leadership made a decision to dedicate some time for this topic.

The discussions I was able to have with Terry before and after the classes were also insightful and helpful to me as,  among other things, we talked about ways that I might go deeper with the insight that God has given me in the area of spiritual fitness.

About 5 years ago I read a book by Dr. Kara Davis, a practicing internal medicine physician, on the secrets to losing weight.  It was based upon the application of the different “fruits of the spirit” addressed in Galatians 5:22-23.

Her new book is Spiritual Secrets to Weight Loss.  A 50-Day Renewal of Body, Mind and Spirit. It combines spiritual truths of the Bible with practical yet medically sound advise on eating and physical activity.

I’ve read the introduction and the first of the 50 four-page chapters and scanned over the remainder of the book.  One thing is clear -  Davis’ heart is that people know the loving God of the Bible and that they be in good health. This book would be great to read read as a devotional over a 50 day period and I suspect could be a life-changing experience for some of you.

“For He (God) has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He (God) has filled with what is good.” Psalm 107:9

Questions to Reflect On:

Are struggling with your weight and ready to grow more deeply in your relationship with God and yourself?  If so,  I strongly recommend you read this book.

Do you know of a friend or family member who is challenged by their weight?  Consider sharing this post and book with them.

Resources for Weight Management and Weight Loss

Article – Spiritual Exercises to Help You Know God Better and Manage Your Weight

Article – Overweight? Find Freedom From Overeating

Scripture Listing – Scriptures for Weight Loss and Weight Management

According to this Gallup Poll, my state, North Carolina had a nearly 2% increase since last year.  Twenty eight percent of North Carolinian’s are now obese – a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater. (Calculate your own BMI) Almost 12% of the people in North Carolina have diabetes – the 9th highest state.

Obesity Rates in America - 2009

Certainly, many people in our country die of weight-related problems each and every day.  These deaths are preventable. Let’s take a deeper look.

There are many factors that contribute to the high obesity and type 2 diabetes rates in our nation. Access to health care, the environment, annual income/poverty level and heredity all play a role.  But the cornerstone of these two conditions are physical activity and eating habits. The bottom line is that these two lifestyle choices most contribute to both of these conditions and they are almost totally under one’s control.  These are choices we make, day in and day out.

Faith and Health

High levels of body fat and high glucose both represent a form of “death.” The Bible tells us that we have a choice.  We can choose between life and death. In the Old Testament, God tells his people -

“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.” Deuteronomy 11:26-28

Later in the same book, God continues to share his instructions about the choices we have between life and death. He says “Today I am giving you a choice between life and death.” (Deut. 30:15) In verse 19 he urges us “Oh that you would choose life, that you and your descendants may live.”

We Can Choose "Life" or "Death"

We all have choices to make each and every day or our life – all throughout the day.  We can make choices that are life-enhancing or death-enhancing; good health-enhancing or poor health-enhancing.  The choice is ours.

With God in our life in a big way, it’s easier to make healthy choices.  It’s easier to make the countless healthy choices that are important in managing our weight.  But even that begins with a choice.  We must make a conscious choice to involve God in our life day in and day out.  It really all begins with this decision.

The more diligent we are in involving God in our life, the more strength he will provide for living and making wise and healthy choices. God can enable us -  empower us – to choose to be more active and to eat more nutritious food.  One key to this is to relinquish control of your life to God and to live in a more surrendered way to him.

The Bible tells us that God’s Spirit lives in us if we have accepted Jesus into our life as our Savior.  Imagine, God lives in us.  When we relinquish control to his Spirit, it is actually God that is empowering us as we live.  In this case, it is God’s Spirit that helps us to get off our seats and be physically active.  It is his Spirit that prompts us to buy and eat healthier food. His Spirit gives us greater discipline. It is God’s Spirit that comforts us when we are stressed and feel like opening the refrigerator and eating a carton of ice cream or devouring a box of cookies.

My hope and prayers for all of you who might struggle with your weight is that you lean more heavily on God and a deeper faith to assist you in making healthier lifestyle choices.  That you’ll make a conscious choice to tell him in your prayers that you need his help and that you are unable to make these desired changes on your own.

I hope that you will experience the love of God in it’s full measure and that that you will be empowered by God to make the kind of healthy changes in your life that you might want to make.  See the verses in  Ephesians 3:16-19

Questions To Reflect On

If your health is impacted by your weight, what lifestyle changes could you make that will help you lose weight?

How much are you really depending on God to help you with these changes?

Does God’s Holy Spirit live in you that he might enable you to make any desired changes in your life?

Resources to Help With Weight Management

An Article – Overweight? Find Freedom From Overeating

An Article – Spiritual Exercises to Help Us Know God Better and Manage Our Weight

Scripture Listing – Scriptures Related to Weight Management

Spiritual Help

Struggling with life as well as your weight? Desire to know God in a personal way?  Desire to have God’s Spirit in your life to empower you to live? Read about God’s love.

Wellness Webinar

To register and learn about The Spirituality-Health Connection: An Introduction – A Wellness Webinar, an online event scheduled for September 3rd, 2009, follow the link provided.

Wellness in the Bible

I spent most of today updating a list I have of scriptures related to health and wellness.  It now includes over 66 verses.

To see this listing of scriptures and their contents, click on the following link:

Bible Scripture, Verses & Quotes on Health, Wellness & Wholeness

See this link to a page on my site for other lists of  Bible Verses and Quotes Related to Weight Loss, Stress, Strength and Healing.