Three Ways that Physical Health Connects to Spiritual Health

I was overweight. I ate too much unhealthy food and didn’t exercise enough. I wasn’t grossly overweight, but the spare tire above my belt was slowly getting bigger.

I hadn’t seen Dave for about a year. When we met for a coffee, I could believe how much weight he had lost. He looked healthy. I asked him what had happened.

Dave shared how he had had started tracking his eating and exercising with MyFitnessPal. I was intrigued and decided to try it.

With the program, you set a weight loss or weight-maintaining goal. You then enter the food you eat and the exercise you get. The program tracks your number of calories (or other things you want to measure).

My initial goal was to lose one pound per week. I still remember the first time I entered that I had eaten a piece of chocolate cake. To my utter amazement, I learned that I had just eaten one-quarter of my calories for the entire day!

I carefully entered the information for a month until I intuitively knew what I needed to do to stay on track with my eating and fitness goals. Within six months, I was at a good weight. More importantly, I had established healthier eating and exercise patterns that I have maintained (for the most part) for the past three years. I still hop on the weigh scale each night to make sure that I’m on track and make adjustments, if necessary.

Since getting more serious about my health, I read an amazing book by Gary Thomas, “Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul.” Thomas talks about how physical health connects with spiritual health. Based on my understanding of Scripture and what I gleaned from Thomas’ book, I would suggest three ways that physical health connects with spiritual health:

All of life is a spiritual discipline

We sometimes relegate spiritual discipline to a list of spiritual disciplines such as prayer and studying the Bible. What I’m learning is that all of life is a spiritual discipline. Honouring God with our bodies is an act of worship (I am indebted to Peter Scazzero who helped me think in broader ways about spiritual discipline in his book, “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality”).

A healthy body allows us to do more for God

A healthy lifestyle does not guarantee long-term physical health, but it can certainly help. Obviously, some handicaps and diseases occur regardless of lifestyle choices. However, as stewards of our physical bodies, we need to do our part to keep our bodies in the best shape possible within our current limitations.

Physical health contributes to emotional health and energy levels        

I have access to a fitness centre about a two-minute walk from my office. Whenever possible, I go for a workout over my lunch break.  I find that it recharges me emotionally and energizes me physically. My afternoons are often much more productive and enjoyable as a result, which I believe helps me to serve God more effectively.

What are your thoughts about the connection between physical health and spiritual health (please leave a comment below)?