Why God desires healthy living for you?
Jeremiah 33:6 says, "Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security." Just as God desires to prosper your soul and spirit, He also desires to prosper your body. God wants His people to be fit and healthy.
God's design for man was never to be sickly and out of shape. So many people fall into the trap of thinking that God finds no worries in seeing a sick Christian. That is far from the truth. In fact, as Jesus walked on this earth fully reincarnated as man, one of His most proactive ministries was the healing of sickness and affliction.
God's Goodness and Wholeness
God's goodness and wholeness has always brought forth a surge of healing and goodness not just upon the body, but even our souls and spirits. As God heals depression, doubt, worry, lack, fear and anxiety, He also brings healing upon our physical bodies. And just as God gives us the enabling grace to say no to the sin that ensnares our spirits, He also gives us the grace to be good stewards of our body -- to exercise and eat right.
Faith Encourages Healthy Behaviours
“Don’t drink ( prevent the risk of Diabetes, Depression in disguise, etc), don’t smoke ( prevent us from having unhealthy lungs, poor immunity etc), don’t chew ( prevent us from toothaches, gum issues, bloated stomach), and don’t commit adultery (safeguard us from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and spiritual implications); Fasting (as this promotes healthy living both physically and spiritually); Resting ( Even God rested after the creating the Heavens and the earth as our perfect example)”.
Some parts of the bible encourage us to eat organic, non-GMO, plant-based, local and slow foods, but it probably still exercises some healthy influence on the habits we form and the activities we undertake.
Our physical bodies belong to God twice over—given at birth and redeemed at the cross (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Caring for ourselves, then, is an act of worship and of submission—in it, we acknowledge that we aren’t the boss of ourselves. As hard as we push, we just don’t operate as well when we aren’t getting enough healthy food, regular exercise, or seven-to-nine hours of sleep a night. Thanks to God for both his special revelation (Ex. 34:21) and his general revelation that tell us this truth.
In conclusion,
The challenge, of course, is that we’re busy doing good things: serving God and neighbour, helping in our church, and working hard at our job. This can make going to the gym or preparing a meal more nutritious than Fruit Loops seem like a waste of time, or worse, selfish. But that logic is twisted. Our family and friends and neighbours need us to be healthy and energetic and well-rested. Running ourselves down in the cause of serving others undercuts our ability to serve well.
We hope not to condemn anyone for not taking good care of their body, but we hope that God's Spirit can inspire you and motivate you to be good stewards of the gift of life that God has given us here on earth. To read our subsequent posts; Subscribe today!
Reference: Bible, TGC, Christian Today etc..
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