Lately, I have found that I’m frequently using the word wholeness, and since the byline of this ministry is “teaching spiritual truths for health and wholeness,” I thought it would be a good idea to explore what wholeness means.
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?
By some estimates, approximately 40% of all deaths in the United States are premature (at least 900,000 deaths annually) and are due to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, misuse of alcohol and drugs, and accidents. Other contributors to early death include genetic predisposition (30%), social circumstances (15%), poor access to quality health care (10 percent), and environmental exposures (5%). (David Anderson, Ph.D., StayWell Health Management)
So more than any other factor, it’s our lifestyle that causes us to be unhealthy. Changing old unhealthy habits is not easy but it’s essential if we want to become healthier and live a better quality of life.
God’s Power is Available to You
“God’s way is … an empowered life.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 – The Message
God wants to assist us in living a healthy life and He has given those who believe in Jesus a helper – the Holy Spirit. (John 14:16-17) Just one of many blessings we receive as followers of Christ is that we have God’s power in us to live the kind of life that He wants us to live and this includes the ability to make desired lifestyle changes.
The Bible tells us that the same mighty power that raised Christ from his grave is available to us who believe in Jesus. (Romans 8:11 and Ephesians 1:19-20)
One key to being empowered by God’s Spirit is to recognize that in our own strength we can not do what we can in God’s strength and power. We must recognize this and depend on the supernatural power of God to work in us. We must submit and surrender to God and embrace the spiritual truth that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Your Body is God’s Temple
Because God’s Holy Spirit lives in those of us who have accepted Jesus into our hearts, our bodies are His temple ( 1 Corinthians 3:16) Therefore, we have a responsibility to care for His temple. It’s an awesome thing that God’s Spirit in us empowers us to live in such a way that we can care for His temple as a matter of love and worship to God. One beneficial by-product is that by appropriating God’s power, we can live a lifestyle conducive to good health.
My Prayer for You
Like the Apostle Paul, I pray that the “eyes of your heart” might be open and that you are able to understand and appropriate the power that is available to you to make any lifestyle changes you might want to make….. all for the glory of God! ( Ephesians 1:18 and Ephesians 3:14-21)
Questions to Reflect On
Are you trying to make lifestyle changes in your own strength?
If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, do you believe God’s Holy Spirit lives in you?
Do you embrace the truth that the same power that raised Jesus from his grave is available to help you in making changes in your life?
Resources Related to God’s Power & Healthy Lifestyles
A few months ago I thought it would be a neat idea to search the net to identify as many solid blogs on the topic of health and wellness written by Christians, or at least those who openly profess their Christian faith. On more than a few occassions I’ve searched for such blogs and haven’t found many at all. The list below is a pretty short one, but at least it’s a start.
I’d like some help adding to this list. If you are a Christian blogger or know of a Christian blogger who maintains a blog on health or wellness that addresses topics of wellness from a faith perspective, please contact me – or add a comment here with the blog’s URL for consideration in this listing.
I’d also like to know if you have a health/wellness blog that you consider a favorite.
Thanks a bunch!
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Based on your comments and feedback to me, these are the sites I’m adding to the listing:
I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to spend some time with students at North Greenville University over the last two weeks. The school, affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, is tucked up against the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains about a short drive south of Asheville and southwest of Charlotte, NC.
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.
I am providing one hour of complimentary faith-based wellness coaching. If you’re interested in taking advantage of this service, please contact me within 24 hours. I’ll select someone at random.
In late August I’ll be starting a 4-week webinar series addressing unhealthy behaviors and the role of faith in changing those behaviors. I’ll be sharing my insight about the faith and health link from the Christian perspective and equip you with skills and knowledge to change unhealthy behaviors – with God’s help.
The first session of the 4-week series will be an introduction to the spirituality and health connection and will be free.
Help me determine which of two focuses to have during the remainder of the series by answering the poll below. I’ll announce the series focus and provide details on how to register soon. Stay tuned.
Know Others Who Struggle with Unhealthy Behavior?
If you have a loved one or a friend who struggles with unhealthy behavior, perhaps you’ll consider forwarding this post to them in an email.
POWERPOINT FOR PURCHASE
Preview this 85-slide package. Includes permission to administer a Spiritual Fitness Assessment & the 30-page booklet, Spiritual Exercises for a Healthier Life. Fully customizable.
Lately, I have found that I’m frequently using the word wholeness, and since the byline of this ministry is “teaching spiritual truths for health and wholeness,” I thought it would be a good idea to explore what wholeness means.
