Intro
There is all kinds of advice and information these days about healthy living—so many diets, exercise plans, and get-fit-quick schemes that it can be really hard to actually know what being healthy even means or looks like.
Don’t get me wrong, these things aren’t necessarily bad. Having a good diet and exercise plan can be beneficial and rewarding. But the question still stands: What even is real and worth doing? What advice do I follow? And what even is healthy?
Well, in this post, we will answer these questions not with more worldly wisdom but with godly wisdom. What does God have to say about our health? What does God want us to be doing with our bodies to honor ourselves and Him? God’s ways are the best ways because His ways are what lead us to life. So let’s get right into what He says about it and look into His perfect Word.
Biblical Wisdom on Health
Exercise Has Value
“For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” – 1 Timothy 4:8
Physical training is of some value. Obviously, the latter half of this verse is more important, but the beginning isn’t to be overlooked either. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us here that bodily training does have value! So, right off the bat, we can know that a good way to be healthy is to do some exercise.
Yet, all the more, let us focus on our godliness—in all purity and holiness—as this pertains to the present and also our eternity.
Pray for Health
“Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].” – 3 John 1:2 AMP
John is writing here to Gaius, his dear friend. Again, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he says that he prays his friend will be in good health. The main point I want us to get from this is that one of the ways God wants us to be healthy is by praying for each other.
God is relational in everything He does. He does everything with the end goal of relationship because God is love. He wants us all to be in relationship with Him and each other. Therefore, when we pray for each other to be in good health, we are honoring God and loving each other—and God responds and rewards us.
God’s Desire for a Long, Satisfying Life
“With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” – Proverbs 91:16
God wants to satisfy us with long life, and He wants to show us His salvation. God doesn’t want us to be ill in any way. His desire is for us to be whole and healthy as we serve and live for Him.
Honor God with Your Body
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
We are called to honor God in our bodies. God wants us to be in good health—in our spirits and in our bodies. When we knowingly indulge in sins or even in foods that are not good for us, we are not honoring God. So, as much as we know, we ought to do what is the healthiest option. We shouldn’t be eating solely for pleasure, but for honoring God in our bodies.
The Power of Joy and Words
“A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” – Proverbs 17:22 AMP
When our minds are joyful and our hearts are happy, it’s like medicine! Even if we get sick, experience tiredness, or face physical struggles, when our hearts and minds are glad, we can know we are alive, well, and full of energy.
All throughout the Word, God tells us to rejoice, be glad, and be joyful. This is how He set it up—God wants us to be healthy and whole!
“Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.” – Proverbs 16:24
When we always speak words of life, love, and grace towards each other, our souls and bodies will be healthy. Our words have a lot of power behind them, and when we choose to speak life to each other, the result will be life.
The Healthiest Thing You Can Do: Read the Word
I believe the healthiest thing you can do is consistently read the Word of God. The Word is so full of what God says—not just about our health, but about life more abundantly. The Bible has everything you could ever need when it comes to knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and faith.
A Harvard University psychology professor, Robert Coles, famously said, “All the writings on ethics over the past 2,000 years are simply footnotes to the Sermon on the Mount.” If one passage of Scripture holds that much weight, imagine the power of the entire Word of God!
Personal Story
I grew up in the church but never read the Bible for myself until I was 16. From ages 10-16, I was not seeking after God. I was seeking after drugs, lust, TV, video games—anything that would give me momentary bliss and entertainment. It was “fun,” but it was absolutely miserable. I was lonely, broken, lost, and scared.
Until one day, I decided I could at least start reading the Bible. The only way I could for a while was if I was high on marijuana. So that’s what I did—I would get high and then read the Bible. It was actually entertaining to me. But the longer I read the Word, even while in my intoxicated state, my mind started to be transformed.
All of a sudden, I couldn’t watch television anymore without feeling emptiness and recognizing sin for what it was. I couldn’t play games without realizing the vanity. I couldn’t smoke without feeling convicted. Over the course of a couple of months, everything that gave me joy now gave me nothing, and I started to enjoy new things, like eating healthy and working out.
I got a gym membership and started getting healthy. I started working in a place where I saw new faces every day and got to be a light in the world, like the Bible says. I started to truly enjoy reading the Bible, and this time, I didn’t even want weed. That one decision—to start reading the Word of God—changed my whole life.
So, the healthiest thing you can do—I know because it’s what I did—is read the Bible.
Practical Steps to a godly, Healthy Life
- Read and Believe the Word – Don’t just read the Word, but believe what it says. When you believe it, it will change your life in more ways than just physical.
- Confess the Word – When you read it, make sure you are also saying it. Find a few powerful verses and confess them over yourself. Even God spoke the universe into existence, so without getting too hyper-spiritual, your words do have power.
- Stay Joyful – Make sure you stay happy and joyful. Laugh and have fun. Don’t be too serious that you can’t be glad and merry. Otherwise, your gloomy exterior will eventually become a gloomy interior.
- Stay Connected – Stay connected to your local church and have a good, godly friend group. Have people in your life who can pray over you, and whom you can pray over. You can keep each other accountable to reading the Word and being healthy. And stay connected to the blog too!
Conclusion
God genuinely cares for your health—not just your physical health, but all of you. He created you with intention and purpose, and part of that purpose is to be healthy. Hopefully, you learned something in this post and can apply it to your life.
If you have any questions or testimonies you’d like to share, feel free to message me! Catch you in the next post in the series, “What Does God Say About Healing?”
