Luke 10:27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Luke 10:27 (MSG) He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence-and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

3 John 2 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

Job 33:4 The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

DEVO:
The Cambridge Dictionary defines comprehensive as ‘complete and including everything that is necessary.’ Comprehensive, or whole-person wellness includes everything referred to in Luke 10:27: my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Focusing on one area of your health is tempting and even understandable, but it leaves other parts of you vulnerable to infirmity, weakness, or disease. God says that He has come to give you life to the full, and one way you can partner with God in this is to take care of your health.

On Sunday, April 26, Pastor Jason said, “Don’t take on responsibility that belongs only to God, but don’t shirk the responsibility that belongs to you.” It’s important when we are talking about health to pause and recognize that some things only God can do. He is responsible for miraculous healings. Your responsibility might be to pray for that miracle while also doing the things you can do to manage symptoms; lose weight, get the sleep you need, take medicines, etc. God has a responsibility, but so do you. You can’t leave everything up to God while treating your body like a trashcan, ignoring your emotions, giving up prayer, and losing control of your thoughts. Here are some thoughts to consider about each area listed in Luke 10:27:

Physical: Your physical health may be the easiest to identify. It includes things like diet, exercise, SLEEP, and management of physical diagnoses. Sometimes you might overlook areas of your physical health because it is hard to do things like eat healthy food or maintain a consistent exercise routine. It is also very easy to overlook the importance of sleep when you consider your physical health, but the Bible includes multiple verses about sleep. If it’s important to God, it should be important to you as well. You may be facing physical ailments which need miraculous healing. You must remember and pray 1 Peter 2:24 which says, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” Remember to partner with God to take care of the physical body He has given you, while also submitting to His work in your life, asking for miraculous healing, and following the advice of medical professionals. First Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” This verse if often referred to when speaking of taking care of our bodies, but you may have missed the last half of the reference. You must take care of your body because it does not belong to you. You are stewarding it, taking care of it on behalf of God, who purchased you with the death of His one and only Son. That should give you strong motivation to take care of your physical body.

Emotional: Your emotional health includes things like managing stress, identifying and processing emotions (not just stuffing them under a rug), and finding community to support you in all seasons of life. God didn’t call you to live a life filled with stress that ends up destroying your emotional, mental, and physical health, and you have to recognize that that’s exactly what stress will do. If you don’t manage your stress, it will control your life. It’s also important to remember that repression of emotions is not the same as processing or managing your emotions. God created you as an emotional being, and your emotions are often meant to be a signal to tell you that something is wrong in your life. When you ignore your emotions or stuff them under a rug, you are not treating them the way God intended for you to treat them. You can always get better at identifying emotions, recognizing what is causing them, and dealing with that thing. For a prime example of this, turn to the Psalms. David is an amazing example of how you can feel your emotions, work through them, and then turn your heart and mind right back to God. Also, you need to find people who can help you with your emotions. You are meant to live life in community with other believers. Sometimes, sharing your emotional struggles with another person allows that person to then feel safe enough to share their struggles with you. Yes, this requires you to step out of comfort and share your emotions honestly with one another. Find someone you can trust to share your emotional struggles with, someone who will accept you and listen to you, and then help you process why you’re feeling the way you’re feeling. Find someone who will encourage you not to get stuck in the emotion, but to move forward with God. And when it is possible, be that kind of person for someone else. Providing this kind of support for another person can help you become stronger emotionally.

Mental: Mental health can feel similar to emotional health, but it includes things like identifying root causes of struggles with depression, anxiety, and anger, to name a few, taking thoughts captive, finding ways to keep our mental skills sharp (like studying or reading God’s Word), and seeking help from counselors (whether they be wise friends/mentors or therapists who have gone to school to walk with people through mental health struggles). This is very important: some mental health issues need to be confronted with the help of a professional, and at Harvest, we would love to help you find the care you need.
If you are engaged in a cycle of anger, but haven’t discovered the root cause of that anger, part of your mental health journey should be uncovering that root and working with God to not be an angry person.
If you spend chunks of time engaging in mindless doom-scrolling to numb your mind instead of finding good, healthy ways to quiet your mind before God, you may be overlooking your mental health. While numbing can feel a lot like quieting, there is a vast difference. Numbing avoids giving thought to anything painful, complicated, or uncomfortable. But you are someone who can do hard things! If you have a problem in life, you can devote mental energy to figure out that problem head-on instead of mentally running away from it. Also, remember that a big part of mental health is taking thoughts captive, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 says. You are responsible for the thoughts that go through your brain, and you can control them. You must constantly be aware of thoughts which aren’t from Christ, thoughts that are opposed to the Word of God, or lies the enemy is telling you. You must find those thoughts and get them out of your brain, then replace them with the truth of God’s Word. This is a huge way to boost your mental health.

Spiritual: Spiritual well-being looks like walking through life in such a way that aligns with your values and beliefs, understanding your purpose and the identity God has given to you. It is living life in such a way that makes it clear that you understand your life has purpose, value, and meaning because you were created in God’s image. Engaging in spiritual disciplines like worship, fasting, reading God’s Word, practicing silence and solitude, and rest can all be ways to improve your spiritual health.

PRAYER:
God, thank You for giving me Your Word to guide and direct me in this life. Thank You for this body that You have entrusted to me, to care for and love while I am on this earth. First and foremost, I ask that You would show me where I am doing well. I pray that You would help me see where I am already honoring You with my choices so that I can continue to do those good things. Next, God, I ask You to forgive me for the times I have not treated my body as Your temple, for the times I have overlooked or completely ignored my health. I pray that You would reveal to me the areas where I am currently struggling. I ask that You would clarify any challenges I am facing in the areas listed above, as well as the steps You want me to take to correct those issues. I pray that if I need to get healthcare professionals involved, that You would send me to the right place. I pray that as I submit my whole self to You, I would become a healthier person. I pray that You would teach me how to love and care for my body in a way that glorifies You, and I pray that it would be comprehensive, that nothing would be overlooked or left to chance. I pray that You would direct my steps as I embark on a journey of whole-person wellness, that I would come to really know and understand what it means to love You with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. When things get difficult, remind me that You created me to do hard things, and that I am not walking this path alone. Help me find the community I need to hold me accountable to the things You are calling me to do in life, and give me the desire to persevere. Like the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139, God, I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Help that truth settle deep in my heart as I focus on taking care of my health in a well-rounded way, and help me as I move on from this month to continue caring for my whole self in a way that glorifies and honors You.