For Faith & Family

Are You a Good Steward of Your Health?

by: Wendy Ashley - Sep 1, 2006 - comments: 5

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said: Here I am. Send me.” — Isaiah 6:8

Are you ready?

Can you wholeheartedly say, “Here I am, Lord, send me?” Think a minute before you answer. Maybe you can say, “Yes, Lord, I’m spiritually ready,” but what about your physical readiness? Do you take care of your body in such a way that you are physically prepared to do whatever God asks of you, whenever He asks it?

First Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” Does your body honor God?

An American epidemic

One of the biggest health crises in the United States today is obesity. It has literally become a national epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control, two out of three American adults are overweight; and excess weight can lead to conditions such as diabetes and coronary heart disease, which is also a major cause of disability and death in the United States.

Take a look at the people in almost any church in America, and you’ll see that Christians are certainly not immune to the obesity epidemic. In fact, a 2006 updated study by Purdue University sociologist Kenneth Ferraro found that church members tend to be more overweight than the general population. About 27 percent of Baptists, including Southern Baptists, have the distinction of being the most overweight.

Each year at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, GuideStone Financial Resources and LifeWay Christian Resources’ LeaderCare Ministry sponsor a Wellness Center where convention messengers can take advantage of a free health screening. A summary report of Wellness Center statistics for the 2005 convention showed that more than 70 percent of the almost 1,500 participants who completed the screening were at moderate to high risk for coronary heart disease. More than 75 percent of those tested were found to be significantly overweight.

Accepting the challenge

These groups provide the free health screenings because of their concern for the health issues facing Southern Baptist ministers. At the 2002 Southern Baptist Convention, Guidestone president O. S. Hawkins challenged messengers to make changes in their lifestyles. Byron McWilliams was serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Buna, Texas, and was one of the messengers who accepted the challenge. Byron now serves as pastor of First Baptist Church, Odessa, Texas.

“Dr. Hawkins spoke about the rising cost of health care, stating a primary factor for this surge was that individuals are increasingly becoming more and more overweight,” Byron said. “I came to realize that at 256 pounds, I was part of the problem. I returned home to Texas committed to eating healthy and starting an exercise plan.”

Since that time, Byron has become a walking—or running—advocate for wellness. He says God gave him a verse of Scripture on which to base his future. Hebrews 12:11 says that “No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Armed with this Scripture and a determination that only God could provide, Byron began running four to five times per week.

In January 2003, Byron ran his first marathon. Since then he has continued to train and run marathons. Overall, he lost about fifty pounds. Byron says he feels better than he has in years and is better able to serve God’s purposes for his life. “Because of God’s strength, I am achieving a goal that has eluded me for over nineteen years.”

A personal commitment

Because you can’t be the kind of servant God wants you to be unless you take care of yourself, making a commitment to live a healthier lifestyle is really making a commitment to honor God with your body. That commitment involves carefully considering the foods you put into your body and making exercise a regular part of your life.

You don’t have to do it alone. If you feel you need to improve your physical condition, ask God to help. Ask Him to reveal areas where you need to change and to give you the energy and desire to commit to that change. Honoring the temple of your body isn’t a short-term commitment–it’s a lifelong promise to yourself and to the Lord to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Enlist the help of your family members and friends. Find an accountability partner who will be honest with you and will encourage you to live up to your commitment to God.

Consult your doctor about the type of diet and exercise that are appropriate for you based on your age and current physical condition. Partner with your doctor to achieve your goals. There may be serious health problems you can improve or avoid just by making better lifestyle choices.

Healthy eating habits and regular physical activity have been shown to substantially reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Even moderate exercise, like walking, helps to control weight; contributes to healthy bones, muscles, and joints; reduces falls among older adults; and is associated with fewer hospitalizations, physician visits, and medications.

Yes, Lord, I’m ready

God has given each of us the tools we need to serve Him in an effective ministry, yet many of us choose to ignore one aspect of our lives that can prevent us from fulfilling our ministry. We cannot truly say, “Here I am, Lord, send me” when we limit Him by choosing to ignore our health. Commit today to begin making the lifestyle changes to put you on the right path to fully honoring and serving God.

How healthy are Southern Baptists?

According to the Executive Summary Report of Wellness Center statistics for the 2005 convention, more than 70% of the participants who completed the screening were at moderate to high risk for coronary heart disease. The five most prevalent risk factors, in order of prevalence, were:

Contributing risk factor	Number affected	Percentage
High body weight	1,113	75.6%
Low LDL cholesterol	672	47.1%
Low level of physical activity	551	39.2%
High total cholesterol	1,113	39.1%
Family history of heart disease	492	35.5%

The Executive Summary Report recommended that the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention provide more health promotion events to increase health awareness and to encourage the leadership of SBC organizations to implement corporate health ministries to reduce health risks of employees and reduce health care costs of the organizations. The report concluded that, “Investing in the health of Southern Baptist ministers and restoring wellness to their lives is one of the best investments you can make for Kingdom work. Someone wisely said that if we don’t take time for wellness, we will be forced to take time for illness.”

Wendy Ashley is Communcations Development Leader and staff writer for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Living, Health

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