“Health is a large word. It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well; not today’s pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of man.” —James H. West
No one would argue that we have to be our best before we can do our best. During this month where there’s so much emphasis on romantic relationships, a lot of the messages and ideas being thrown around really are not healthy for the heart. Single people get down on themselves for not being in a relationship and couples stress each other out with unmet expectations. Instead of focusing outwardly, I thought it would be good to take stock inwardly. How have you been treating your heart? It doesn’t matter what else is working if the heart is out of order and this is true no matter what type of heart health you are thinking of. Since I’m a naturally helpful person, I’ll cover all three for you.
1. Literal heart health. We all know heart disease is the number one killer in the US. You can read stats on this from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s page on February being American Heart Month. However, how often do you see or hear any information about natural approaches to treating, preventing and even reversing heart disease? It really is possible to avoid all the medications, surgeries and other complications that come to mind when we think of heart health. Check out David J.Foreman’s book, Pillars of Health Heart Disease.
2. Mental and emotional heart health. Those thoughts you don’t even know you’re nursing, those feelings you can’t seem to get rid of… how do we go about dealing with the more abstract and hidden parts of our hearts? Psychological practices, therapy sessions, behavior theories and more are abundant, but you can’t always be sure they are trustworthy. Thankfully there are Christian doctors out there to give the discussion a biblical basis, such as Dr. Bob and Laura Nichols in Issues: A Guide to Heart Health.
3. Spiritual heart health. This is the most important one to maintain, since without God we can do nothing. In his book, A Church After God’s Heart, Pieter L. Hendricks dives into what the body of Christ looks like when it is spiritually healthy. What does it mean to be “after God’s heart”? I’ve wondered that often whenever King David comes up, but never considered before that I can actively pursue being that kind of person as well, nor that it can apply to a church body overall.
Health is more than the absence of disease. Recognizing our hearts are dynamic and multi-faceted, we should make our most earnest efforts to take care of them from all sides. This keeps us in shape to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives—which always includes sharing His message. If you are already a Xulon author or considering becoming one, I hope the three authors featured in this post inspire you to give your heart more consideration with each passing day. May they, one by one, add up to a full life of taking every opportunity, following each road and opening every door.
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