In this blog series, we have been looking at how Jesus lived His life wholistically – mental, emotional and physical. Today we will look at how He lived his life spiritually to complete the wholistic assessment of His life. The reason for taking a look at His life, is so we can have a model to follow to take care of our own life and in particular our health.
The first question is: did Jesus have to focus on maintaining balance with His spiritual health? After all, He was and still is God. While walking this earth He was a spiritual being walking around in a physical body. And you know what? So are we! The only difference between Jesus as man and us, is He was, and is perfect, and we are not.
I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to forget this fact – that when I have Christ living on the inside of me, I am a spiritual being, walking around in a physical body. I am spirit first – I am one with Jesus Christ – and a physical body second. In fact, that is how we connect with the Father is through our spirit – not through our analytical mind or emotions, and not through our physical body, but through our spirit.
But this is only made possible when we are “in Him, and He is in us” and the only way for this to be possible is through our commitment to Jesus Christ. Otherwise, our sin and fallen nature create a disconnect from God, our spirit is dead, until we commit to Him, then we become alive in Christ. “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” – John 3:6-8
What Were Some of Jesus’ Spiritual Practices?
As we talked about in the emotional health blog, connection and community are vital to Jesus and His Father, and it is also vital that we connect with Jesus and the Father. This is done both by Jesus and by us, through prayer. I think this is the first thing we need to establish doing in order to model our spiritual health after Jesus – is to pray.
Prayer
I did a quick google search to see how many times it was specifically mentioned that Jesus prayed. This was from the Christian Pure website:
“Jesus is described as praying about 25 times in the Gospels, with the exact count varying by Gospel: Matthew (9), Mark (8), Luke (15), and John (4).
It goes on to say this:
“This pattern of frequent prayer reflects Jesus’ deep connection to the Father and His reliance on spiritual communion for emotional and spiritual sustenance. It demonstrates a coping mechanism for the immense pressures of His ministry and a model for maintaining psychological well-being through spiritual practices.”
This certainly supports the importance Jesus placed on maintaining balance with His wholistic health and utilizing prayer to do so.
The ultimate place to start to learn Who Jesus really is, and how He lives His life wholistically is to spend time with Him. And the way to do this is through prayer. Prayer is not simply lifting up your laundry list of requests to God each day, it’s a back and forth communication with Him – both speaking and listening. In my book “Are You Being Deceived About True Wellness” I go into more detail about how to hear God’s voice and actively engage in communication with Him.
Another way to learn Who Jesus really is, is to study His Word.
Study the Bible
The first verse in the first chapter of the book of John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.” When you study the Bible, His Word, you are studying Him and Who He is, and how He lived His life!
Jesus was always referencing the Old Testament, the Torah, in His teachings. One source I found said that He referenced scripture over 100 times – and that’s just those that were recorded in the Bible. His disciples went on to pattern their teachings after what they learned from Jesus and referenced the Old Testament scriptures even more.
Luke 2:40 (Amp) says “And the Child (Jesus – my insert) continued to grow and become strong [in spirit], filled with wisdom; and the grace (favor, spiritual blessing) of God was upon Him.” How do you think He grew strong in spirit? By staying continually connected to the Father, that’s how.
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Connect with a Church Home
Jesus didn’t just learn Who His Father was, and in turn Who He was just through studying the scriptures, He also learned from others.
In fact Jesus was only 12 years old the first time it was written in the Bible that: “Three days later they found Him in the court of the temple, sitting among the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. All who heard Him were amazed by His intelligence and His understanding and His answers.” He was studying Who His Father was and seeking Him for full direction every day. The same Father that He was connected to, and one with.
Having a spiritual covering, someone you are accountable to spiritually, like a pastor and/or church family is also vital to your spiritual health. It’s also important that who you are studying and learning under also has a spiritual covering. Who is your pastor, or your church body as a whole accountable to? All of our coverings and accountabilities needs to flow down from the throne room of God Himself and His Word, Jesus. The Father was Jesus’ spiritual covering while He walked this earth. He did only what He saw His Father doing.
Serve Others
You might be getting sick of hearing me say this, or hopefully it’s encouraging you, that every single one of us has a purpose here on this earth, and that purpose comes from God and is for His glory. We are not here on this earth just for our own benefit and pleasure – this is simply the overflow from following Jesus, but we are here to serve. When we live out our purpose, we are serving God and His Kingdom. And I’m not talking that all of us have to be standing behind a pulpit somewhere every Sunday morning. Each of our purposes is fulfilled when we simply live out our lives as God has directed us to do.
The first command is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your mind and all your soul. And the second is: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” This is fulfilling your purpose and serving at the core – Love.
Jesus said “I only do what I see My Father doing.” He was in such close communication with the Father at any given time that He not only could hear from the Father, He could see (in the spirit) what His Father was doing. Just as we are to model Jesus, Jesus modeled His Father.
And Jesus served. He went about doing good everywhere He went – He preached the coming good news of the Gospel; He healed the sick and delivered people from their demons; He taught the way to eternal life with the Father in Heaven was through Him. All He did was good.
In Matthew 20:28 (Amp) Jesus said: “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin]”
In Matthew 25:35 Jesus said: “I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came to Me [ignoring personal dangers].” When the disciples, to whom He was speaking this to ask: “when did we do this?” Jesus replied (Matt 25:40): “to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.” Jesus was living out His purpose by serving.
In Conclusion
These are just some of the many examples of how Jesus lives a balanced wholistic life spiritually.
So how do you restore your body back to good health? Start with Truth – Jesus. I have always said there is more than one way to do something right. There are many ways to lose weight, lower blood pressure, overcome chronic diseases in general using natural approaches. There is really no wrong second step – but the first step is vital no matter which direction you go from there – follow Jesus. Use Him as your role model how to restore your health, or better yet – maintain it. Because if you are pursuing any other path without Him as the foundation, then you are simply leaning your ladder against the wrong wall – or better yet, no wall at all. And eventually that ladder is going to fall, and you will wonder what happened.
Lean your ladder against Jesus. Lend your ear to Jesus. Pursue His way to a balanced wholistic life and all the other pieces and answers will fall into place. And yes, Jesus lived a spiritual life!
Did You Miss the Mental Health Blog Series?
“How Committed Are You to Your Wholistic Health?”
“How Do You Know When You Get There?”
“Are You Ready for 2025?”
“How Disciplined is Your Budget?”
“Are You Burning the Candle at Both Ends?”
Pursue Your Purpose
Want to Dive Deeper into How to Live Life Wholistically?
Pick up a copy of …
“Are You Being Deceived About True Wellness?”
