“For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s Truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold…” (2 Timothy 4:3 Amp).
If you can’t tell by now, my “north star” and the source of all Truth is the Bible. This verse from 2nd Timothy truly sums up the consequences of looking for the “easy” way to not just optimum health but to anything and everything in life—when one steps off the path of truth and onto the path of lies, deception, and wrong, it never ends well.
Truth. Truth needs to be the foundation of everything we believe, think and do in life, including for our health. Truth needs to be our starting point. When I say wholistic health is not easy, I am telling you the truth. Not just from a professional viewpoint, but from a personal one as well. From someone who tries very hard to practice what I preach; to not ask of you what I wouldn’t or couldn’t do myself.
What Does God Say About Hard Work?
Now that we’ve established that God’s Word is the foundation of all truth, let’s now see what He, and His word says about hard work.
“Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!” (Proverbs 14:23 NLT). Talk is cheap, we have all heard that. It’s also easy. But actually, digging in, and doing the right things for your health – preparing real food, exercise, even going to sleep and waking up at the right time – all take hard work. But it will provide lasting, healthy results.
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“Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: ‘Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.’” (2 Thessalonians 3:10 NLT).
Not only is wholistic health not easy, it takes hard work. If we are always being a sluggard and letting someone else do the hard work – like the fast food restaurants, or the processed “food” manufacturers – we might be going through the motions of eating, but we are not nourishing our bodies. It takes hard work to restore the body back to good health, and to maintain good health.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23 ESV). I would encourage you to remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing, especially as it pertains to making great efforts towards taking care of your health. Good, wholistic health is not easy, we have to work for it. If we don’t, the end result will be disease. And if you are diseased, how are you going to optimally fulfill the calling God has on your life? Whatever we do, including taking care of our health, should be done to honor God.
“Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3 ESV)
This is really a foundational principal to health, or truly to anything we strongly desire, “there is a difference between a desire to doing something and a commitment to it.” (Dr. Jackie McKool) Make a commitment – not to yourself, but to God, that you will do everything you can to take care of your health, the rest is up to Him – your plans for taking care of your health will then be established by Him – what peace there is in knowing this!
Conventional Medicine versus Wholistic Health
If you agree that the first place to start with our health, or anything else, is to begin on the foundation of truth – God’s truth, then let’s see which approach lines up with His Word — which we briefly explored — in regards to pursuing our health wholistically. When we pursue the path of “easy” we start down a very slippery slope that almost certainly will lead to—at the very least—a waste of time and money, if not a literal detriment to our health. An anonymous writer said, “What comes easy won’t last long, and what lasts long won’t come easy.”
The Easy Way, the Conventional Medicine Way
- Managing disease is easy, it might not be pleasant, but it’s easy.
- Having someone else tell us what to do, and then choosing to do it – or not – is easy. It takes the responsibility of thinking off our shoulders and lets someone else do that.
- Popping the magic pill is easy, especially if we don’t think we have to do anything else, like changing our diet, exercising, drinking our water etc. It removes the responsibility, and commitment off of our plate.
- Letting someone cut out a body part, and then putting our head in the sand, believing the problem has been solved is easy – again, far from pleasant, but easy none the less.
- Claiming that the chronic, degenerative disease is “genetic” definitely takes the responsibility off the individual, after all “there is nothing I can do about it, it’s genetic.”
- Letting my insurance plan dictate the level of what I can or cannot do is easy
- Letting my insurance plan tell me what doctor I can or cannot go to is easy
- Only do what my insurance covers, nothing more, nothing less is easy
The Hard Way, the Wholistic Health Way
- Seeking out a Functional Medicine Practitioner who will walk alongside of me through the discovery process of the root cause.
- Restoring my body back to good health using wholistic health approaches
- Changing my diet
- Exercising
- Buying quality supplements out of my own pocket
- Drinking plenty of water
- Minimizing the stresses in my life by changing my lifestyle habits
- Seeking God first for direction, provision, divine connections, and most of all supernatural healing
God’s Way
God’s way is really not based on either – the easy way or the hard way, His way is the right way. If we desire to pursue Truth and God’s will for our lives, including how to take care of our bodies – whether they are diseased or healthy, then we need to go back to the source of His Truth, His Word, and ask Him.
This is not a condemnation if you choose to pursue the conventional medicine route and manage your disease. He gives us free will, always. It’s not even that He won’t heal you if you pursue the conventional route – He can do anything He wants, whenever He wants, under any circumstances He wants, after all, He is God. But ask yourself, is it possible that His ideal way would be to do everything we can to take care of our health, or even restore our bodies back to good health using a more wholistic approach, that includes Him, and if after having exhausted all possible efforts the “hard way” that we then, and only then, turn to more invasive options like drugs and surgery?
In Closing
- I would highly encourage you to seek God’s will and His Truth first, before moving forward in any direction as it relates to your health or lack of it.
- Exhaust all wholistic health options first, including assessing your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. To learn more in-depth understanding of each of these 4 components of our wholistic health, see my book “Are You Being Deceived About True Wellness.”
- Determine the root cause, and not just address the symptoms – even naturally – and apply good hard work into restoring your health naturally.
- Seek out a functional medicine practitioner to walk alongside of you in these endeavors
- And above all, be patient with the “hard way.” It takes time and effort. Don’t throw in the towel for the quick fix.
The bottom line is, wellness takes work, effort, and commitment. I told you I would speak the truth!
To book Dr. Jackie for speaking engagements go to: https://jackiemckool.com/schedule-jackie/
See more of these blogs, in case you missed them, for greater insight to the Truth About Wellness:
“Is Wholistic Health Even an Option for Me?”
“What is True Wholistic Health?”
“How Do I Create a Healthy Balance for My Soul?”