How is your health? Are you happy with your appearance, your strength and stamina, your energy level, the way things are working all-around? This post is not about health advice or trying to stir shame or guilt over what you may already know you need to do. Instead, I want to offer some perspective and encouragement as you think about and address this important area of your life.
I suspect you have some ideas about what needs attention in this area. So, what are the obstacles to your specific goals, and what are the general barriers to self-care for you? Do any of these sound familiar?
Time and Schedule – Many of us work long, unpredictable hours, so juggling life and its schedule hinders exercise, good sleep, and the ability to eat right.
Our Commitment to the Ministry – Our mindset about ministry may lead us to believe taking time for healthy practices is somehow un-Godly.
The Role of Food in our Work – Eating is part of our job and church culture. When we eat and what we eat may seem a bit beyond our control, and convenience also plays a part in potentially unhealthy habits.
Sedentary Work – From sitting at our desk in study and prayer to sitting during visits and meetings, all the being still we do can make it hard to burn off that Baptist eating.
Lack of Desire – Sometimes, we simply want the enjoyment of an unhealthy practice more than we want the benefits of healthy ones. What is the long-term result of that unhealthy practice?
Lack of Awareness and Priority – Do you tend to ignore your body’s needs until it screams loudly enough to get your attention? How can you cultivate health awareness in your life? What might you do to build better self-care into your life?
Discouragement and Distraction – We have set unrealistic goals in the past or simply failed in some attempts at physical self-care, so we hesitate to try again. Or, we don’t have a good plan, and we get sidetracked from our efforts.
Fear – Is there some health concern you suspect you may need to address, but you are afraid of what you will find if you have it checked?
Deeper Issues – I would suggest that, for some, unhealthy behaviors and neglect of their physical well-being may point to deeper issues that need attention. These may be issues of self-worth, relational issues in the marriage, discouragement, etc. that contribute to unhealthy choices.
What might motivate you to attend to your health more faithfully? I am not talking about reasons for guilt, just good motivators. Here are some I think of:
The enjoyment of feeling good – I like having energy and being well, and I want to feel good and function well for a long time. Have you felt poorly for some time? How might life and ministry change if you felt better?
The Issue of Witness and Opportunity – Our culture is incredibly vain, and Scripture says God looks on the heart, but I want to suggest that how we care for ourselves can influence how others receive us and our message. I want to be sensitive at this point, because some of us have health issues that affect our appearance – mine is eye problems and crooked teeth even after braces two times! Some of us have to overcome insecurities in this area, and I do not want to undercut you. I am simply suggesting we put our best self forward.
Getting the Most Out of Life and Putting the Most Into Life – What do you want to get out of life and put into life for you, your family, and the Lord and for how long? How might physical well-being affect your ability to do that well for as long as possible?
Stewardship and Worship – I believe our bodies are entrusted to us by God to be used for His honor in all we do. How might functioning at your best make your life and ministry more God-honoring as an expression of good stewardship?
A Holistic Theology – Part of Greek philosophy that created problems in the Early Church was body-sprit dualism leading to the idea that the body was irrelevant. However, Hebrew thought was holistic. How might a holistic, integrated view of your humanness encourage you with self-care?
As you think about physical self-care, be sure to think through all the areas of your health and all the things that contribute to or detract from it. You may ask the Lord to help you see unaddressed areas and gain a deeper sense of stewardship and encouragement. You may need others to help you evaluate and plan. Let me pose some questions for you in addition to those earlier in this article.
What aspects of your health and physical well-being could use attention because you know they need improvement for you to be your best for God?
What aspects of your physical well-being, if unaddressed, will produce results you do not want?
What obstacles prevent giving attention to your physical well-being? Which of those I listed stood out or needs exploration? What would you add?
What would help you overcome these obstacles?
What assumptions get in the way of adequate physical self-care in your life?
What do you want to be able to say about your health 90 days from now that you cannot say today?
What is one thing you can do this week to move you closer to that goal?
How might thinking creatively about exercise, time use, and other factors help you implement healthy practices?
Who might help you think through these things?
*If you would like personal coaching as you think through these things, I am available to do that, and you can find my contact information on the “Contact” page of this website.
(Photo: Jeep Calvert Photography)