How to pursue spiritual health following in the footsteps of Jesus
what is Spiritual health?
We are all very aware that the body and mind are intrinsically connected and that for true health human beings need to be treated holistically. Physical disease can cause emotional and psychological ‘dis-ease’; poor mental health can manifest in pain and disorder in the body.
Is there an additional category of spiritual health? Does good spiritual health help psychological and physical health? What is the difference between spiritual and mental health anyway?
It’s hard to pin down the spiritual, to empirically give evidence for the existence of the soul. You can check out for yourself the role of spiritual health however by directly putting yourself under the direction of the greatest spiritual master there has ever been, and following his direction.
I’m talking about Jesus Christ. Here’s some guidance from Him about spiritual health.
Lean into goodness and trust the Father.
Jesus understood that we fear that ultimately the universe is not a safe place, we are going to be eternally ‘found out’, rejected or punished for not coming up to the mark. Jesus shows us in his words and example that actually behind all of visible creation there is a power of goodness and love; that God is like the best nurturing Father you could imagine, only more so. Learn to relate to the Father like a trusting child relates to their parents. Ask him for things, run to him when you are upset, when he says ‘no’ believe it is for the best reasons even if you don’t understand them. Julian of Norwich, the medieval mystic said ‘’All shall be well and all manner of things shall be well’. That’s God’s last word on reality, and that certainty helps us in our present difficulties, even the most extreme ones.
Lean into the Holy Spirit.
Jesus promised that he would give all of his followers divine connection through the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence that you can welcome and receive, and Jesus called the Spirit ‘the comforter’. His promptings and intuitions help us process and move away from our darkest thoughts, and he points us out of negative introspection or performance anxiety.
Don’t collude with negative
spiritual energy.Jesus had a name for negative spiritual energy. He called it Satan which means accuser. Accusation can look like fierce critical judgement of the self, or other people. Jesus once said to his critics ‘Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?’ Satan is only too willing to be entertained, our dark thoughts can be empowered by negative spiritual energy so let’s not give our energy to internal bitterness, fears, anxieties and lusts.
Follow the way of Love.
Perhaps our deepest spirituality is expressed when we choose the way of love, even when we don’t feel like it. Love looks outwards and that focus that takes our eyes off ourselves and onto the beloved, is so powerful. Loving anyone, even your cat, is good for your soul! And God who is love, will back you up and help.
so heavenly minded, no earthly good?
Sometimes spirituality is caricatured in the description of someone ‘so heavenly minded they are no earthly good’. Sometimes spirituality can feel like it has a weird intensity that is the last thing that is good for our health.
My own belief is that to be truly human is to allow our spiritual nature to be alive, not in a heavy rule bound ‘religious’ way, but with the freedom I see in Jesus Christ who invites us to live out of ‘unforced rhythms of grace.’ He’s a soul physician and wholeness is always what he offers; body mind and spirit. Check him out - he has a book out actually…
David Mitchell Senior Pastor Woodlands Church Bristol
“ Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”