When you think about being healthy, what comes to mind?
Plates full of salad?
Being on the treadmill for hours every day?
While these things can be a part of healthy living, health is so much more. When we only focus on the “rules” of healthy living, like what to eat and how much to work out, we miss out on the fulfillment healthy living brings.
And…let’s be honest…rules and regulations aren’t very motivating.
True health is about living out who you’re meant to be. It’s about running optimally in all life areas…physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. When these areas are running optimally, you are setting yourself up to live out God’s calling on your life and become all that He has created you to be. And in order for all of these areas to run optimally, they all need nourishment.
This means that being healthy is about feeding ourselves good food, thoughts, movement, friendships, and Scriptural truth. Avoiding gossip can be just as nourishing as eating leafy greens. Meditating on God’s Word provides nourishment just as taking a walk in nature does.
We often only focus on our physical health when we think about food. But in reality, all areas of our health affect the others. Stress can create poor sleep, which can affect our brains, the reparation of muscles after exercise, and our ability to burn fat. A diet high in sugar can cause our emotions to be all over the place throughout the day.
So, how do we get these areas under control? How do we create the best health possible?
In my book, TRUE Health: A Woman’s Guide to Loving Her Body, Loving Her Life, and Loving Her God, I share a wholistic approach to health. And I’ve created a handy way for you to remember this approach: the acronym TRUE:
T = the Truth about health
R = Realizing your potential
U = Understanding you and your body
E = Enlightenment by the Holy Spirit
Let’s go a little deeper…
The Truth about Health
Being in good health is about freedom. We often think that limiting what we eat and disciplining ourselves is about bondage and restriction. But the opposite is true. When we can’t put down the brownie, when we can’t get motivated to leave the couch, when we can’t stop scrolling Facebook, we are locked in poor health prison. From this place, we don’t have freedom. We’re handicapped and floundering.
True health does take discipline, especially in the beginning. But this way leads to freedom. The freedom to be who you were created to be. To let the things that “so easily entangle us” go so that we can “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1, NIV).
Realizing Your Potential
In order to reach our full potential, we have to give our mind, emotions, and body the nourishment they need.
For our mind, this means renewing our mind-set to focus on God’s truth (more about this in a future blog post).
With our emotions, it means living out of love instead of giving in to fear, jealousy, victim mentality, discontentment, and low self-worth.
Physically, it means we focus on developing the stamina and strength to be available to God’s calling, so that we are “prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21, NIV) He may ask us to do.
Understanding You and Your Body
There is no one else on this planet that is just like you. Even identical twins have differences. When you get a clearer understanding of your passions, talents, and interests, as well as what foods and movement work best for your body, you can take this knowledge and use it to live out who God created you to be.
Enlightenment By the Holy Spirit
This was my favorite section to write in my book. Did you know the Holy Spirit is vital to our health as Christians? I’ll share more about this in a future blog post. But for now, please know that, as God, He not only loves us, but He is a primary resource in our journey of health. He is the why and the with of our health journey.
I hope this blog post gives you a clearer understanding of true health. If there is one key point you take away, I hope it’s this: true health is the freedom to be who God has created you to be.
“What next?”, you ask? Where do you begin? I’m giving you a free PDF you can download and print to determine what areas in your life need the most nourishment right now. Simply click on the link and follow the instructions on the page.
Here’s to your true health, friend!
Next Steps:
What are your thoughts? Comment below
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