I have been blessed to have amazing discussions recently with my family and friends about mental, physical, and spiritual health, so this prompt comes at an apt time. I will one day put a more comprehensive explanation together, but this will overview the general strategy. That strategy begins with a single critical assumption – everything is connected.

Everything is Connected

When I say everything, I really mean that. We have a tendency to compartmentalize the various portions of our lives, especially with regard to health and well-being. We think of our lives in terms of distinct systems, but not generally in terms of an organic unity. For Christians, we are especially bad about segregating our physical and spiritual health from one another. This is dangerous however considering how often a physical malady is explicitly caused by spiritual intervention (often demonic) in scripture. It is also dangerous, however, because it forgets that the Lord who made all things is Himself Spiritual, and if we believe He can heal, then we must believe in spiritual interventions in physical health.

That is not to say that everything is primarily spiritual, however, and there are many spiritualists or mystics who would claim that the spiritual is covering down on everything and if we just got our spirits right we would be healthy. The principle that everything is connected cuts against both of these interpretations. We cannot afford to segregate the self if we are to have real health.

God made us physical and spiritual beings, to say that they have nothing to do with each other is to fall to the Gnostic heresy of the early centuries. To default to purely physical explanation is to succumb to the naturalistic fallacies of modern secular medicine that, while making great strides, has limited its scope and efficacy. Finally, to default purely spiritual is to become a mystic, and that is no positive for the believer either for it may teach us to treat our body, which God calls the temple of the Holy Spirit, as something unimportant or illusory.

Everything Affects Everything

Not only is every part of our being, physical, spiritual, and mental connected, those connections serve as causal relays transferring effects from the various parts of the self. As an example, my own bouts with depression had multiple overlapping difficulties across the whole of me. There was sin involved, serious sin of self, and a desire to be king over my own life instead of God, which manifested in not acting as I should. Many sins sprung from this, including sexual immorality, covetousness, and constant complaining.

What does complaining do but develop habits of mind which persist in negativity and those mental states can affect hormone balances in the brain as well? Increased interiority aroused suspicion, and I assessed other’s behaviors as negative toward me (even if they were rather positive or entirely ambivalent). This caused me to retreat from social life, which is a critical component to anyone’s health.

These things were further complicated by being a boxer during my time in college, and taking many strikes to the head. Precisely how many times I have been concussed over my life, I cannot say, but a concussion creates physical effects which exacerbate already existing depressive states. Add to this a total lack of right eating, and my body wasn’t able to develop the energy needed to heal damage from fighting and exercise nor try to correct the mental issues, nor did I have the apparent energy to invest in relationships and church so my spiritual walk became almost non-existent.

I could go on and on with the complexities of how my struggles with depression went over many years, but I will wrap this up in a simplistic manner. It would not have been enough to receive therapy for the mental issues, nor to just pray for the problem to go away (though God is able to heal in this manner, he rarely does for many reasons we may well discuss later). It also would not have been enough to simply stop getting hit in the head or eat better or take a medication. To deal with the issues of depression which almost drove me to suicide in my early twenties (a story for another time) would take a comprehensive approach that included physical activities (exercise, dietary changes, and sleep regulation), mental activities (practicing thankfulness, learning new skills, and getting Godly counseling), and spiritual activities (prayer, serving in Church, the study of God’s Word, confession to the Lord, and partaking in communion).

No Simple Solution – but Simple Principles

Because everything is connected and everything affects everything, there is no simple solution to health and well-being, at least not in the unique to each person sense. That being said, there are fundamental principles we can follow to cover the whole of who we are when we consider health and well-being.

Take care of your Body – it is the temple of the Holy Spirit – eat well, move more, and enjoy the Lord’s creation

Renew your Mind – for you have been given the mind of Christ – whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Philippians 4:8)

Restore your Spirit – He has made you a new creation and you have been adopted as sons – trust in Him, praise Him, be thankful to Him, pursue the disciplines of prayer and study and service

The right balance of these elements, orientation, application, timing, and execution will be slightly different for everyone, but this is my strategy for health and well-being. I would love to hear about yours.