Good Monday morning!
Here we are…the last Monday of the year 2024. I am guessing that a few of you have New Year’s resolutions in mind but I would venture to say that most of you don’t! I am not a fan of resolutions because they are often “pie in the sky” without any real plans or intentions of making them into life-long changes. Most resolutions have to deal with our physical health. Many people will make a resolution to lose weight or to go to the gym only to fall away in a month or two. They lack a plan to be a good steward or manager of their wellness.
The Bible calls us to be good stewards. There are hundreds of verses in the Bible that speak to the idea of stewardship and it is more than just our finances. Charles Bugg defines stewardship in the Holman Bible Dictionary as “Utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation.” Some of us do a great job of being stewards financially. Some of us do a good job about being stewards of earthly resources. How many of us think about stewarding our bodies?
God gave our bodies to us, and He wants us to take care of them and avoid anything that might bring them harm. Many of the laws that God gave to the ancient Israelites in the Old Testament were meant to help them stay healthy and avoid sickness. God knew about things like blood borne illnesses and dietary issues long before modern science came up with them. Jesus devoted much of His ministry to healing the sick and restoring them to health because he understood the importance of physical health. The Bible says that when we give our lives to Christ that includes our bodies:
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,
who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong
to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must
honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT
Wellness is an all-encompassing field that includes not only the physical aspect of the body but the intellectual, emotional, social arenas and yes, the spiritual as well. As Christians we always strive to be good spiritual and financial stewards but do you realize that not taking care of the other areas of our wellness can cause us stress, using valuable resources that could go to further the kingdom? For example, most of the money spend on health-related issues that are a result of lifestyle choices that we make…not being good stewards of our body. And the toll health issues take on our mental and emotional well-being? That can be even greater than the financial stress.
God is the commander of the heavenly armies and like the United States Army, He wants you to “be all that you can be.” I want you to “be all that you can be” because I care about more than just your spiritual well-being. I am willing to help you come up with a plan to be intentional in your stewardship…just ask. We all need to be “all we can be” to do the kingdom work of sharing the good news of the Kingdom. We need to care for ourselves so that we can take care of those God entrusts to us.
Have a happy and healthy new year.
P.R.
