Jesus: The True Source of Spiritual Health & an Abundant Life
If I’m honest, this is probably the most important blog post I will ever write and thus, has also been the absolute hardest to write. I’ve gone back and forth for months on what the best approach should be, what bible verses to include, what theologian to quote, etc. Yet, the more I’ve tried to make this blog post “perfect”, the less authentic and real it became. And that is not what I want for this post, you or myself. I do not want to fill this post with a bunch of quotes, statistics or even bible verses to the point that it becomes more factual than personal. Because I believe the most powerful testament to any idea or truth, is someone’s own personal experience with that idea or truth.
In this post, I want to be downright honest and real about spiritual health, the area of health and the Circle of Life that I believe is the most important of them all. It has been both through my own study and personal experience, I have come to find that when you take care of your heart and spirit, it is then you will begin to experience true health and satisfaction. And the only way I have found to truly heal and care for my soul and spirit, is not through Christianity, but through a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who has become the foundation of health in every area of MY life and is the foundation behind Made Well as a blog and business.
Now, this is by no means a short post, but I deeply pray you take the time to investigate through this post on spirituality and my personal experience, the abundant and satisfying life promised through a relationship with Jesus.
Spirituality and Health
Most people would not argue with me when I make the claim that we are spiritual beings living in a physical and material world. Some may say they are spiritual but not religious, but most individuals would make the argument that they believe in some spiritual higher power. Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project noted in 2012 that 54% of the individuals surveyed said they were associated with a specific religion and 42% said they were unaffiliated with any religion. However, of that 42%, 37% said they were spiritual but not religious. Thus, of all the people surveyed, 91% prescribed to some sort of spiritual practice and/or religion.
Furthermore, over the last few decades, more and more people are starting to connect their spirituality with their health. Spirituality has become the way individuals are trying to find meaning, hope, comfort and inner peace in their lives. People are using exercises such as prayer, meditation, and yoga to achieve mental peace and emotional healing. With this, there has also been a rise of holistic health practitioners as more individuals are beginning to see that not only is the body, mind and spirit important, but they are equally important and must be taken care of to live a balanced and healthy life.
How do we care for our spirit?
So then, if all aspects of our health are important and we are to care for our spirit, as well as our body, what do we do next? How do we work towards spiritual health and take care of our heart and spirit?
As a Christian, the first step that I am expected to say is that you should confess your sins, ask Jesus into your heart, and serve him with your life. And although I completely agree that accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior is the way to a meaningful and eternal life, that is not necessarily the next step I believe you should take. I believe that before anything else, you should take the time to study the person of Jesus, as presented in the Bible, for yourself. For too long have we let the church or even others tell us what being a Christian is or following Jesus is like, but haven’t ever really investigated who Jesus is, for ourselves. Many have become Christians and have no idea what that actually means, or how to live life from there.
So my goal is to not make you follow any religion in this post or even convert you to Christianity. My goal is for you to investigate who Jesus is for yourself and not let any experience with any religion or faith cloud your idea of who Jesus actually is. Just as I’m encouraging you to investigate Jesus for yourself as the source of life, health and satisfaction, I too had to take that step and test to see if Jesus is actually the way to a healthy and whole life.
My story with Jesus & Health
Personally, I became a Christian at 8 years old and went to a Christian school my entire life up until I went to the University of Tampa in 2007. And to be honest, for the first two years when I went there, I didn’t really commit to any Christian group or Church. I was too focused on trying to find joy and happiness in perfection in school and in my body. I thought that achievements and a perfect image would bring me happiness, but boy was I wrong. The harder I tried to find happiness in those things, the more I realized how broken I actually was.
You see, since high school I had battled with a horrible relationship with stress, food, and my body. I used either eating barely anything or eating absolutely everything, as well as excessive exercise, to try to cope with the various changes and stresses going on in my life. Yet, none of these coping mechanisms were sustainable and only lasted for a while. Nothing seemed to ease the pain or shame in my soul, the lack of purpose I felt, and the hopelessness that never seemed to go away.
This struggle continued in college until I finally decided to investigate Jesus for myself with a Christian group on campus called InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Through studying who Jesus actually was in the Bible with them, and through various events that gave me a space to encounter Jesus, I began to be healed of my broken relationship with God and with myself. I began to see how deeply loved I was by God and how he expressed that unconditional love through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. I began to see that I was made in his image, beautiful in his eyes, and destined for a great purpose.
During this time of healing, I read a passage in the Book of Luke, Chapter 4 that talked about how Jesus came to proclaim freedom for prisoners and set the oppressed free. I realized in that moment that I was in a self-destructive, oppressive prison caused by broken relationship with food and skewed sense of my worth being found in what I did or accomplished. I prayed for him to set me free, to heal me, to make me whole again. And he did, slowly but surely, he did and still is.
The Bible as a Source of Truth and Healing
Through the Bible and His word, I finally began to see what my Identity was, who it was in and what my purpose was. Various statements in His word became truths, anchors and the foundation for who I am. Some of these include:
- I was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)
- God loves me with an unfailing love (Psalm 21:7)
- God has a plan for my life, to prosper me and give me a future (Jeremiah 29:9-11)
- Through Jesus, I’m forgiven and a Child of God (Psalm 103:3, John 1:12)
- There is no condemnation [shame or guilt] for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
- I am beautiful and there is no flaw in me (Song of Songs 4:7)
- I can do all things through God who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
It was only after seeing who I was in Jesus and the immense value God placed on my life, that I began to see that a broken relationship with food and my body was not a part of his plan for me, that he wanted me to be made well and find true satisfaction and health in him. He wanted me to love him with all my heart, spirit, body and mind.
Again, through his word he showed me how a full and abundant life can only be found in him, not food:
- The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy but Jesus came so that I may have life and life to its full (John 10:10)
- Jesus is the living water and bread of life which will satisfy my deepest longings and cravings (John 7:38, John 6:35)
- Jesus is the Truth, the Way, and the Life, and only through Him do I have access to the Father (John 14:6)
- God is my Healer, my Sustainer, the Giver of a full life (Exodus 15:26, Psalm 55:22, John 10:10)
Although these may feel like mere words to you, I have come to experience them as truth and have been transformed by them, in areas of health and all areas of life. Through my relationship with Jesus, I have experience some crazy yet amazing things. In the area of health in particular, I’ve been set been set free from eating disorders and body shame, lost weight and became fitter, and have been given the amazing opportunity to live out one of my callings and purposes – to see others made well and whole through things such as health coaching and even this blog.
What will your experience with Jesus be?
Now even after reading my experience, you may still be skeptical and have many questions. Is Jesus real? Does he care about my health, more importantly, my life? Will he actually make me happy and satisfied? Is he all that Brianna says he is?
That my friends, are not questions my experience can answer for you. Those are questions your own experience with Jesus must answer. Those are questions you have to be willing to take steps to answer. And the only way to answer these questions, is to do what I said earlier – investigate Jesus for yourself by studying who He is in the Bible.
You may not have the first idea of how to do that, which is fine! I didn’t originally and in some ways I am still learning. However, it would be my hearts greatest delight to show you what I do know. I would love to show you how to study Jesus and the Bible for yourself. If that is something you are interested, DO NOT HESITATE to contact me at madewellky@gmail.com. I check my email daily and am willing to meet up, Skype or whatever it takes to walk along side you in your spiritual journey.
My deepest prayer and constant cry, is that you will come to experience the unconditional love and healing of Jesus in your own life. That you will test him and see if he truly is the Living Water and the Bread of Life. That you will come to your own conclusion that he truly is the way to a healthy life, a purposeful life, and a life where you are continually being made whole and well.
