The laws of health are principles that include the whole person. We are multidimensional, and speaking of the relationship existing between the mind and body, we are told that “when one is affected, the other sympathizes.”1 The World Health Organization states: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” In addition to those dimensions listed above, we need to recognize that our spirituality, our relationships, and the management of our finances, all have an impact on our state of well being.
Above all things, Jesus wants us to “prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 1:2). Paul states that “the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). “Peace,” or Shalom in Hebrew, relates to the inseparable completion of our being, through sanctification, rooted in physical and mental health. When Paul speaks of “preservation” he points us forward to a time through which we pass as we near the coming of our Lord. During this time, He makes and keeps us “blameless” until His personal appearance. It is a process of healing, making each Christian into a beautiful person, and involves overcoming sin and illness, through the healing power of Jehovah-Rapha (see Exodus 15:26).
The God who created our minds, and communicates with us via this medium, wants to renew our minds through His Word by meditating upon it, by memorizing it. This He has intended for our good. Just as our physical health is subject to adequate nutrition and proper elimination of toxins, our mental and emotional states are influenced both positively and negatively by the varied experiences we encounter from day to day. When our emotional wellbeing is off-balanced, not only do we tend to suffer physically, but our relationships with other people, as well as God, are impacted negatively. A depressed mood or attitude can subconsciously drive our behaviors in ways that lead to the mismanagement of our financial resources as we attempt to self medicate by purchasing comfort food, or exciting experiences.
Jesus states, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). This abundance of life does not have to be purchased with money, and it has no undesirable side effects. It is to be experienced both here and now, and in the world to come it is promised that “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain...” (Revelation 21:4). That future life will be above and beyond even the abundant living we can have on this earth, in a state of heavenly wellbeing.
All scripture taken from the King James Version.
- Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1905), 241.
