Redeeming Health and Wellness
It would be very helpful if Luke, the physician and author of the Gospel of Luke, had written a chapter on health and wellness for us but unfortunately he did not. The Lord gave many health and dietary rules in the Law of the Old Testament, and we from them we can glean much about what His original intent and desires for our health and wellness are. However, many inferences must be drawn and so there is no clear cut Biblical Definition of Health and Wellness. Given that, we must seek wisdom and guidance from the Bible and apply that to solid science and personal experiences to begin to imagine what a Biblical Perspective on Health and Wellness might be.
An old friend and pastor of mine, Kyle Sears, once taught me that everything can and should be redeemed for Christ. It is easy to look at secular topics and treat them as different and lesser than spiritual topics. Kyle taught me to challenge that viewpoint and to instead embrace secular topics and activities as something to redeem for Christ and His Kingdom. To redeem something in this context refers to atone for something that is lacking. Romans 8:22 reminds us that all of creation is “groaning together in the pains of childbirth” because everything has become incomplete since it’s separation from God so long ago. In the case of redeeming Health and Wellness, the goal is to replace what is missing in the secular understanding with Christ and to bring Him into the process and experience.
What is missing in the secular understanding of Health and Wellness is this foundation of faith, or even of worldview for non faith-based practitioners. When we seek to practice the behaviors of health without a deeper why than “I want to loose weight/feel better/avoid chronic illness/fill-in-the-blank,” we have an unsteady foundation upon which to build. However, when we seek to honor Him in our journey and know Him and His designs for us more completely, it changes our motivation and means. So, how can you redeem your Health and Wellness journey for Christ? It may be as simple as using your morning run as a time to pray and listen to worship music to something as complex as outreach into struggling communities to improve their health while you are loving on them as neighbors. Each person’s answer may be different. But the pathway is the same: take some time in prayer with Him to ask, “How can I redeem my Health and Wellness journey for Your Glory?”
If you have any creative ways that you are redeeming your Health and Wellness for Christ, we would love to hear about them at AmplifiedWholeHealth@gmail.com.
