"The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light..." (Matthew 6:22)
"So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." (Matthew 7:17)
"Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul." (3 John 1:2)
I observed this week two conditions in which I or others feel negative feelings--E.g. anxiety, sadness, loneliness, anger, fear--or express negativity--E.g. sinful or pessimistic attitudes, actions, speech.
The first condition is increased frustration. With whatever. Frustration with one's self, others, situations, weather, time, God, etc. raises, if you will, the floor of our negativity.
The second condition is a decreased filter. That is, it is more likely that our frustration will spill out when we're rushed, tired, overly isolated, overly news-ed, hungry, etc. Then it is as if the gate that holds back our negativity drops. And out comes nasty-nasty.
Frustration raises the water level; filter-fatigue lowers the gate. Seems like we should try to keep an eye on these things.
John Piper shared a story in one of his seminars about how he had begun to wake earlier and read his Bible and pray. Wonderful, right?! But then his wife pointed out how, ever since he'd done that spiritually motivated excellent discipline, he'd been shorter-tempered with her and their children, and just generally a grump.
As John prays in 3 John 1:2, good health is related to our soul's "going well." Or as Jesus depicts this, our lives will be "full of light" if our greedy, hungry, anxious self is carefully observed and managed. Or again, that the fruit of our life witnesses to our spiritual health. Spiritual health is not one health among many healths--physical, emotional, social, psychological, and also spiritual--but is a way to describe all these together. We are whole beings, integrated hardware-software, indivisible in actuality despite the names we give aspects of our selves (E.g. body, soul, heart, spirit).
For this reason, it is helpful from time to time to consider our spiritual health.
How are you doing?
Many of us feel that we "would rather not think about it," or "don't have time for this." Perhaps. Well. But let's say you'd like some help assessing your spiritual health: Spiritual Health Self-Assessment.
It's not short and sweet. It will require reflection--in fact, though there are only nine questions, there are sub-questions that force further reflection on each point, helping you consider the question from more than one angle. Because I'm consistently astonished at how quickly I like to move past any real reflection, how difficult it is to be fully honest, and then how helpful what emerges is. Finally, it is not a "google-form"; you'll have to print it out and use a pen (like Abe Lincoln!?!). This is to counteract, again, my/our tendency to want to rush through things like this, missing helpful connections and insights.
I recommend it for your consideration. Furthermore, it is designed so that, if you would like, you can share it with the elders--it can help us get a more accurate understanding of the spiritual health of our church, as well as know better how you're doing.
Because our church won't be healthier than we are. And "we" is us--meaning, of course, you and me (and them).
Beloved, I pray that it may go well with you... as it goes well with your soul.
Photo by Jonathan Knepper on Unsplash
