Are you satisfied with your hell insurance?

Knowing Jesus is the first step toward being spiritually healthy. But it’s one thing to have the Holy Spirit; it’s something else to live in alignment with Him

Jul 25, 2024

Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

What does spiritual health look like?

Is that a question you’ve ever asked? Surely there has to be an answer, because we talk about spiritual health a lot in the church. We want to be spiritually healthy, but if we can’t explain what it looks like, how can we evaluate whether we are or aren’t?

We’ve been talking about health a lot this week, mostly because it’s one of the things in our lives we can control (to a certain extent). We are all responsible to make healthy choices in all the areas of our lives, because—well—there are consequences when we don’t.

But there are standards for evaluating physical health. There are standards for judging emotional and mental health too. But how can you tell if you’re spiritually healthy or not? What does it even mean to be spiritually healthy?

I’m sure there are a million different definitions, and I don’t pretend to be an expert on any of them. But at its very basest definition, I would say a spiritually healthy person is someone who has a restored (or redeemed) spirit.

Understand this first of all, we are born broken. Every person who has ever been born has a genetic predisposition to sin. No one has to teach us how to break God’s law. Toddlers lie as soon as they can speak. We want what we want, and we are willing to do whatever is necessary to get what we want, no matter who we hurt.

We begin our lives spiritually bankrupt, with nothing to offer God but our broken, sinful natures. When we accept responsibility for our brokenness and accept the gift that Jesus offers us, God transforms us. He revitalizes our broken spirits. He puts new life in us—His life. Jesus makes us spiritually whole again.

So I guess that’s one way to define being spiritually healthy—having the Holy Spirit in your life. But I think it goes beyond that. It’s one thing to have God’s Spirit; it’s something else to live in alignment with His Spirit.

When you are living in step with the Holy Spirit, your life will demonstrate some key characteristics (ever heard of the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23?). There is a major difference between having the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit.

And that’s what Paul is talking about here in this letter to Timothy—the training in godliness. Of course it’s wise to take care of our bodies, but our spiritual health is vastly more important. Our spiritual health will actually have an impact on our physical health, and—beyond that—it makes a difference in our eternities!

So, do you know Jesus? If you do, you’ve taken the first, most important step toward spiritual health. You’ve been redeemed. Restored. Bought back with the precious blood of Christ. Your future is secure no matter what, and it has nothing to do with your qualifications or your own personal virtue. It’s all about Jesus and His unfailing love for you.

But are you satisfied with your hell insurance? Are you content to just bump along the bottom of the Christian life, dragging your toes in the muck of the “white collar” sins that so easily beset us?

Or do you want a different life? A radically blessed life? A life that shines like an incandescent lightbulb in the darkness of the world?

Spend time with Jesus. Get to know God. Learn to recognize His voice and do what He asks. Prioritize the things that Jesus says matters and make your life about Him.

It’s not easy. It’s pretty much the equivalent of spiritual pushups, especially when the enemy is dead set on you staying weak and ineffective in your faith. But if you can endure, not only will you receive incredible blessings in your life on earth (God always blesses obedience, friends), you will also be storing up treasures for yourself in eternity.

And, let’s face it, eternity with Jesus is the prize.