“For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” (Jeremiah 7:22–23, ESV)
Many people are concerned with wellness and many more should be. My wife and I try to take a walk on the beach every evening, weather permitting. We try to eat right, following a healthy meal plan. While there is no guarantee, all of this is good and will improve the probability of good physical health. However, wellness goes far beyond just the physical. Paul wrote the following to the Thessalonians.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, ESV)
Now I do not want to get into an argument between the dichotomous and trichotomous camps. However, Paul’s statement indicates three aspects of human existence, which indicates a need for wellness in in a variety of areas. For one to be truly health must include the total being. Thus, it must include the spiritual, the mental/emotional, and the physical. Frankly, these three areas are inseparable. If one area is out of sort, the others are adversely affected.
I have known people who have endured such emotional stress that it has affected their physical wellbeing also. We cannot neglect one’s spiritual condition either. One’s spiritual condition can affect their emotional state and their physical state also. David wrote of this in Psalm 32.
“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah” (Psalm 32:3–4, ESV)
Here David indicated that his spiritual condition of unconfessed sin resulted in mental/emotional anguish and physical debilitation. Yes, wellness involves the total person.
The Lord relayed through Jeremiah this same basic truth. He tells the Israelites that when He brought their forefathers out of Egypt that He did not “command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.” He commanded them to obey His voice and to live the way He commanded them. He indicated that this was the key to their wellbeing. This puts one’s spiritual condition at the pinnacle in the pursuit for emotional and physical wellbeing.
I have personally counselled people with severe emotional disorders. In many cases I would find that they did not have a saving relationship with the Lord through faith. In other cases, I have often discovered unconfessed sin in their lives that heaped up guilt to the point of crushing them. When they came to true faith and confessed their sins, most experienced relief from their emotional issues.
In our pursuit of wellness, let us not get the priority backwards. Let us not forget the necessity of spiritual health. Spiritual health comes as one turns from trusting in their own manmade ways of salvation and coping with guilt, and coming to faith in Jesus. Living by faith results in obedience and confession of known sin.
Renewing the Heart 