Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Ephesians 4:14-15 NLT
There’s a big difference between choosing to be healed and living a life of healing. As Dr. John Delony says, “We will constantly be faced with new challenges, responses to old traumas, and the struggles of life in today’s world. And our brain and body will always be seeking to protect us, in whatever ways they know how. So let’s shift out of one-and-done thinking.”
It’s vital to understand that and embrace health and non-anxiety as a way of life. God’s Word tells us all the way through that our life with God, our life of health and maturity, is a journey. It’s not a one-and-done, either. In fact, growing to health physically, emotionally, and relationally is vital to God. He calls us to maturity in all areas, becoming increasingly like Christ.
So what choices are we going to need to make to live a life of health?
- We will have to realize that one workout and one month of eating wisely, or one week without a drink or a drug will not handle years of addiction to the wrong things.
- Some of us may need to go to rehab or counseling and get professional help to have wisdom in the journey.
- Some of us will need to own that we spend money to satisfy needs and restlessness it can never fix.
- Others may need to choose to end a toxic relationship that never changes, but it changes you.
- Perhaps some may need to change jobs because it has taken over your life, and your kids feel it.
- Some of us need to get more sleep and exercise.
- Some may need more time with positive friends.
- Perhaps you are one who needs to start a regular set-apart time doing life with Jesus through prayer and godly input.
The God who loves you yearns for you to thrive and be healthy. He will speak to your heart and tell you what to do next. Why? Jesus’ close friend John understood health. He wrote this prayer for a friend, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well” (3 John 1:2 NIV). It’s for you and me too.
- You know the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. What healthy choice is He telling you to make?