What is happening to the word “health”. I think It is getting hijacked. For a long time I have seen guys and gals who have tremendous looking physiques but eat like crap. Then there is the guy getting his last drag on a cigarette before stepping into the gym. I understand there has always been a fuzzy line with fitness, buffness and being in shape, but the word health? Really?
We talk about health like it doesn’t mean what we all were taught it meant. The meaning has been expanded but has lost it’s origin. When I was in school, back in mid-evil times, we had courses called “health”. We studied various topics and nearly all of them had to do with our physical bodies. I hear from people born in this century that they still teach health, as in physical health, in schools today. So we all know that when I say health, I am most likely talking about physical health.
Maybe it is just Christendom, but the current move is to talk about health in any area of life without addressing the physical side. Whether it is marital health, emotional health, psychological health and a few others, the word health is being dissected from physical health. It is not a bad thing to relate your mental, relational, emotional or any other area of life in terms of healthiness. I think it is good. When we think of healthiness, we still think of it in terms of what a healthy person is like on a physical level and transfer to other areas. It’s a good thing. The bad thing is that we don’t want to address the physical part of health and we are purporting to bring health to the “whole person.” Last time I checked, we are part physical.
My point is that we are spirit, soul and body. We have relationships which include our body. Our finances include our body. In fact, when the body is out of the picture, so is everything else on this earth. The body affects the other areas of life, just like the other areas of life affect the body. If you are stressed out because of the way you are thinking, (that is usually why you are in a state of stress), that affects your body. If you have to work overtime because of an unforeseen bill you have to pay, that affects your body. In marriage your body communicates. Your mind controls your brain and your brain controls your body. Likewise, your brain is enriched or handicapped by what you feed your body. I think you get my point. The body is not “the” most important aspect of you, but it is important and cannot be forgotten without paying the due penalty.
Let’s admit that all of it matters. Every area of life is designed to be healthy. Nothing can be forgotten. In fact, let’s do more than admit it, let’s live like it is true.