How accountable are we for our health?
July 21 - July 27, 2024 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Ownership Week 4
Do you get to choose what happens to your health?
That’s a complicated question, and I guess the very unsatisfying answer to that question is, “It depends.”
You can make wise choices and be a good steward of your health to the best of your ability, but that doesn’t guarantee you will always be in good health. And then you can also choose to treat your body and soul like they don’t matter, and you might live to be very old.
I have friends who are struggling with terminal diseases after they spent their lives taking care of themselves. Yet my grandpa’s wife (my step-grandmother) lived to be in her late 90s, and she smoked like a chimney from the age of 16.
So can you choose your health?
No, I don’t think it’s fair to say you get to choose your health. But each and every one of us is given a level of health and wellness that is our own to steward. It may not look the same for every person, but regardless if you’re stout or slim, tall or tiny, we all have a personal responsibility to take care of ourselves, whatever that may look like from person to person.
That means prioritizing an active lifestyle (or as active as you can). That means eating foods that are rich in nutrients and not excessively indulgent (just be reasonable). That means building community and maintaining healthy relationships with people who challenge you to be the best version of yourself.
When I was younger, I’d hear things like this—things like I’m saying now—and say I was just buying into the modern-day wellness hype. The Bible doesn’t say anything about lifestyle choices like this. Or does it?
Well, that’s what we’re going to talk about this week. Because like it or not, your body, your mind, your soul are gifts God has given you to take care of for a specific amount of time, and we know that God never gives us anything without helping us understand His expectations of how we are to use it.
So we are going to turn to His Word to find His definition of what it means to choose to be a good steward of our health:
Monday – Our Physical Health (Romans 12:1)
Tuesday – Our Mental Health (John 14:27)
Wednesday – Our Emotional Health (Proverbs 17:22)
Thursday – Our Spiritual Health (1 Timothy 4:8)
Friday – A Healthy Life (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
I’m looking forward to this study because I’ve learned over the years that God isn’t playing around when He talks about the resources He has given us. He wants us to take care of the gifts He’s given us. Of course, there is grace when we fail to do so (for which I’m unendingly thankful for), but grace isn’t a “get out of jail free” card. Well... I guess technically it is. But it shouldn’t be. If our hearts are where they should be, grace is an opportunity to try again and get it right.
Now, for those who have lived healthy lives and are still dealing with illness or disease, the only comfort I know to offer is to recognize whatever health troubles you are facing are an opportunity to remain faithful. If you’re struggling through a health-related condition and you lived a healthy life, don’t just assume it’s an accident or a coincidence. You didn’t waste your life. You can’t waste your life if you are being a good steward of what God has given you.
But regardless whether you’re facing a health crisis because of poor choices in your life or because of someone else’s poor choices in your past or because the enemy has been granted permission to attack you physically, God hasn’t abandoned you. And He won’t. Just keep your eyes fixed on Him and remember that this life isn’t the end goal. This life is just the beginning of a glorious eternity.
You can do everything right and still reach the end of your life on earth sooner than expected. You can do everything wrong and still live to be 100. Only God knows the number of days each of us will live, but as long as we are alive, we have a responsibility to take care of our lives to the best of our knowledge and ability.
Those of you who know the Bible probably won’t be surprised by the verse I pulled out to memorize this week, 1 Corinthians 6:19.
It’s probably been overused if I’m being honest, but I can’t think of a better verse as an example for why we need to take care of the health God has entrusted to us. God Himself lives in us. The Holy Spirit makes His home within us when we accept Jesus as our Savior, and I don’t want to be guilty of asking God to live in a messy house.
Obviously, God can do anything. He is capable of doing whatever He wants with us and our health and our futures; He’s God. But that doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility we have to obey.
I hope you all are taking care of yourselves this summer. Remember to hydrate!!
Amy
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