Faith and Wellness
The beginning of a case for Christian Wellness and Personal Development
What does God have to do with wellness (let alone Personal Development), and what does wellness have to do with God?
Our lives are a gift. The spirit, soul, and body that make you you are gifts. How we treat that gift matters.
We, as humans, are made in God’s image. We are God’s imagers, which is to say, His representatives on Earth. That status comes with responsibility. If we’re to represent Him well we need to develop and maintain our faculties as well as possible.
We, as Christians, are the temple of God, who dwells in us by His Holy Spirit. As His temple, He dwells in us. Thus, we should respect his temple in its totality.
Are we treating our gifts with gratitude if we don’t develop and maintain them? Are we taking seriously our role as imagers of God if we allow our faculties to deteriorate? Are we respecting His temple if we abandon it to disrepair?
As Christians, we sometimes discount this life in important ways.
We must distinguish between ‘The World’ as a place and ‘The World’ as a system in the same way we must distinguish ‘The flesh’ of our bodies and ‘The flesh’ of our minds. We risk undervaluing and neglecting our earthly life when we confuse the two.
Being heavenly-minded doesn’t mean being earthly apathetic. Our lives are gifts, and we're in error if we don’t treat them with the respect they deserve.
There’s nothing holy about not taking care of yourself. There’s nothing holy about being complacent. This is where Personal Development comes in.
Consider the parable of the talents, found in Matthew 25:15-27:
“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.”
All possible interpretations aside, this parable communicates that our lives are not our own. Our lives are a gift granted by God. And, building on what was previously stated, not only are we God’s creation, imagers, and temple, but we are also here to serve Him and His kingdom.
Each of us is given a measure of talents with which to serve. Your talents aren’t for your benefit alone. They’re not even primarily for your benefit. They exist, as you exist, for Him. Additionally, your talents aren’t just your “talents.” They’re also your traits, tools, treasures, and testimony (made up of both tragedies and triumphs). They are all that you are and all that you have.
Each of us will have to give an account of ourselves, how we’ve lived, and what we’ve done with the talents God gave us. And in giving that account, we’re going to either be regarded as “good and faithful” or “wicked and slothful.” Which do you prefer? Live accordingly.