The Principle of Vitality and Health
God has set in motion laws that govern the entire universe. These are laws that reveal his character, based on love, which we could call spiritual or moral laws. All the laws and commandments of God can be summed up by the principal of love towards God and love towards our fellow man.
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. (Luke 10:27)
Our spiritual health is ensured if we keep these two commandments upon which all other laws are based.
Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 18:5)
There are also laws that govern the physical creation. They are the laws that bind the universe together; determine the motions of the heavens; how life reproduces itself; the architecture of the atom and the cell. For our bodies to be healthy we must be in harmony with God’s laws that he has set in motion. As much as it is our duty to maintain our spiritual health, we must also ensure we take care of our physical health. Often people focus on one and neglect the other… or neglect both! The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Co 6:19). We are only given one physical body, so we had better look after it.
Because of original sin, we are far from the perfect physical human beings that God first formed and placed in the garden of Eden. When God created the heavens, the earth and all things in them, he made them free from imperfection.
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good… (Genesis 1:31).
In this fallen world we have many diseases and infirmities that affect us all to a greater or lesser degree. To ensure we live to our greatest potential, we should equip ourselves with the basic knowledge of how the body works and what we can do to live a healthy lifestyle.
The principle of a healthy lifestyle is not complicated. In essence it is about being in harmony with nature and keeping everything as close as possible to the way God created it. We have tampered with food by refining it, treating it with chemicals and genetically altering it. We have polluted our environment and use farming methods that strip foods of their essential vitamins and nutrients. Life is often fast-paced and too stressful. It is important to carefully consider what we put in our body and on our body to minimise the build-up of toxins and maximise the nutritional value.
There are many helpful resources on health topics if you care to wade through the plethora of information that is out there. Below are some videos by Barbara O’Neill that I have found particularly helpful. The information she provides deals with diet, nutrition and lifestyle that will promote good health and, in many cases, reverse the diseases that plague us in the modern world. Barbara is a qualified naturopath and nutritionist and is health director of the Misty Mountain Health Retreat in Australia. Take the time to watch these videos and remember – your health is your responsibility.