Ep: 001 - What Does the Bible Say About.... Health and Healing?
Jonathan Isbill, MS, RD, LD
?? Holistic Health Dietitian Coach, Healthcare Consultant, Writer, Author, Speaker, Believer. Building for Better ??
Hello Friends, I am taking a break in regular messaging about Healthcare systems to give space for a more personal and intimate conversation within the realms of holistic health and healing - still, the home base of what I LOVE to talk about. I publish all my articles over at Substack if you want to receive all variety of posts directly from the source. You can also subscribe to the podcast format for audio listening. For today's story, I want to introduce you to Grounded.
Welcome to Grounded ??- a place for my letters written from a soulful place. Learnings through a lens of faith, philosophy, identity, purpose, love, and belonging. Ideas on life, health, humanity, spiritual experiences, prayer, and more. Insights into other cultural & religious contexts to help us grow together and expand our horizons.
Previous stories I have written under the Grounded ?? umbrella,
Most recently, I am embarking on a series called “What does the Bible say about…?”
In this first edition, I’m going to dive into some higher-level perspectives before we dive into much more in depth details in future posts, such as prayer, fasting, eating veggies, using essential oils, etc.
I believe the Bible presents us with much wisdom to unpack that we can take into consideration as we hope to strive for our very best lives on this side of heaven. I mean this in practicality, but also in thematic volumes we can learn to listen to as we navigate a very strange world we currently live in compared to the context within biblical times.
In modern life, we have many distractions placed in front of us that prevent us from understanding how to obtain good health and allow for our faith to lead our lifestyles. In this pursuit, we will question our beliefs, critique the common status quo, and cultivate a bigger, bolder perspective in hopes to inspire each other to strive for a faith-filled walk in each of our individual health journeys - together.
A few things we want to remember, human nature reflects common problems throughout all of history, from greed to gluttony to tragedy and romance. The themes of human nature echo throughout history whether we have the eyes and ears to notice it or not. Insights from two thousand years ago may still prove themselves valuable for us to pick apart today as we endeavor upon improving our everyday lives.
Throughout the following series, I will be sharing bible verses and commentary to add to the conversation. I am by no means a biblical scholar or theologian.
I’m just a blind man who has found some bread willing to share.
Let’s dive in!
What does the Bible say about…?
Health and Healing
I believe health is… WAIT! First, before we talk about “health” in the broader sense, let me home in on here what I think is MORE worth our time and attention, and that is to have the conversation focused on what I will describe as OPTIMAL health, not just getting by but truly thriving with the full ability and capacity to go after your dreams and enjoy your life, calling, service, gifts, challenges, and blessings.
Optimal health is aligned, integrated wellbeing, not shackled by fear, frustration, fear, loneliness, depression, anxiety, anger or hopelessness – but rather one of calm, curiosity, an open heart, community connection, compassion, confidence, courage and clarity, empathy and understanding, vitality and vibrance – not painfully pushing towards perfectionism but joyfully seeking after the Lord by falling in love with process of progress, in spirit and body, mind and heart.
Throughout the Bible, many themes jump off the pages such as the great life God has sought to create for his creation, starting from the Garden and spreading beyond through every consecutive book.
If I am to believe that God sent himself as his human son to die on a cross for the sins of all people on earth - all people pre- and post the life of Jesus Christ’s walk on earth, I can only logically believe that God still maintains that depth of love for his people today.
And if God loves his people and worked to make a way to save them and lead them throughout all of mankind, giving them order out of chaos and good instructions to provide and protect them, then I am also led to believe that God loves his people so much he would NOT want to see them sick, stricken with disease or even dis-ease.
In fact, the Bible tells us that when God created the heavens and the earth, the great waters and the skies, all the creatures according to their kind and man and woman on the earth that he stopped and recognized it as good and very good. He was proud of what he had created.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:27
In the account of the first humans on the planet, Adam and Eve were raised in a Garden, given what we think of as “perfection” in the world, with the chance to enjoy good fruit in the full love and embrace of the God who created them, a good, goodfather who was proud to see his children thrive in the very garden he had designed for them to enjoy.
However, if you know the story, that’s not where things end.
[The Creation of the Heavens and the Earth is a foundational doctrine in Christian theology, describing the origin of the universe as an act of divine will and power. This account is primarily found in the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis, which is the first book of the Bible.]
Unfortunately, there was a breaking point from the “perfection” found in the garden and all that had been previously perfected became blemished. Just because the earth and its functions, and God’s people were subject to blemishes, do you think God’s ultimate love changed for his people, since they were now blemished?
I don’t think so.
There are countless examples of God striving to love his people, to show up and lead them well, but his people inevitably chose in their free will to go against God until they were absolutely desperate and in such grave need, they FINALLY decided to cry out again to the Lord their God.
Even despite their stubbornness, God went after them - ultimately sacrificing himself for them.
So, all this is to say that God has a very strong and devout love for us as His creation, his children.
His love for us does not diminish no matter our actions and decisions, our sickness or our health.
We are NOT better than others if we have more or less health.
We are NOT more or less loved for our good health or poor sickness.
We do NOT strive for health to PROVE to God or to EARN God’s love.
God’s love abounds and extends upon the infinite. In comparison, OUR love FOR God is dynamic and seems to be ever changing as we are fickle humans with very sensitive emotions and are easily distracted (more on that topic in weeks to come).
One way in which I believe we can SHOW our love to God is to follow his good instructions for our lives, to walk in his love and mercy, to allow our actions and our hearts to be exemplary for the love we have FOR God.
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[Faith is generally understood as trust or belief in God and His promises, while works refer to actions and deeds that reflect one's faith and obedience to God's commandments. The relationship between faith and works is a central theme in the New Testament.]
When God sends his son down to the earth to eventually sacrifice himself to save the people of the earth, to be the living sacrifice for the people of God… we see in Jesus’ actions the consistent and persistent pursuit of healing sickness, encouraging and empowering others towards good health.
The Ministry of Jesus
In reality, the entire life and ministry of Jesus is a prime symbol of health and healing.
His ministry is sprinkled with many stories of healing sickness, by miraculously feeding thousands of people who were struggling to survive malnourishment, healing conditions like leprosy, and even people who believed in his power of healing so much they simply grabbed Jesus’ cloak, and he blessed them on the spot with healing their ailment.
Jesus performed a variety of healings during his ministry, many of them were remarkable and shocked people. He addressed physical ailments, emotional distress, and spiritual afflictions.
From my vantage point, the following points are pretty clear.
I believe it is part of our mission, purpose and part of our every good endeavor to seek to heal the sick, serve the poor, support those in need however possible - and that INCLUDES ourselves. Self-neglect is not an esteemed quality. Self-sacrifice is not what we are called to perform. Sure, humility is afforded for this journey along with grace and compassion, but to sacrifice ourselves or simply neglect God’s creation is NOT.
Read that again.
We are not called to infinite self-sacrifice or self-neglect. We are indefinitely called to love.
I believe that if your pattern of behaviors is showcasing self-neglect, you are not actively caring for yourself, and you are dismissing God’s love for your life. Denying God’s love is denying God. Denying your health and healing in my opinion is denying God’s love for your life.
And as we can so commonly say, “you are called to love your neighbor as yourself…” but how could you ever truly love your neighbor in the deepest sense of your heart, soul, mind and spirit, if you do not show yourself any ounce of love at all.
I would think most Christians would argue that God cares more about your heart than he does your body, but I don’t think God doesn’t care about your body. I think clearly God wants all facets of your being to be healthy, wise, healed, and well.
So, as we look to future conversations under the umbrella of health and healing, I want us to remember that GOD DOES CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH & HEALING. And if God cares about it, then we should too.
"So whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God."- 1 Corinthians 11:31
?? Thank you,
?? Peace and Blessings to You. ??
Make sure you are subscribed to get notified when the next story in this series is released. If you want more to read in connection to a biblical perspective, check out this story about the concept of freedom in America.
Health and Happiness are not sparked overnight. Life is a journey and we all deserve a little encouragement from time to time. Here’s my encouragement to you for you to continue striving to live your very best life.
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