Prioritizing our Spiritual Health

Prioritizing our spiritual health.

Mark 8:36
³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (NIV)

We have distracted ourselves away from our spiritual health in Christ. For those of us who believe the Scripture to be the Word of God, we have accepted that our bodies are dust and will one day return to dust. Yet we will live. For centuries Christians prioritized their spirituality above everything else. Today, we are distracted by those things that feel quite urgent in this life but have no eternal bearing.

We might be tempted to frame this passage in greed applying only to those who want the whole world. It is more about perspective. It’s not that these things are not important. They affect people. These things may fit into our calling to love our neighbor, care for our families, and even to support our church. It is not that these should be ignored. But when we allow these things to steal away our time with God, our spiritual refinement, and the practices that help us keep our priorities, we may unwittingly be forfeiting our eternity.

We are inundated with books, gurus, and seminars on time management. There is pressure to be efficient and organized. We must exercise, eat right, balance family time with work, bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan. And many of us have learned to work better within routines and schedules within our time management tools. Maybe we need a rule of life however that incorporates our spiritual well-being as high as our career goals.

The demonic pressure to do, to be, to accomplish something valuable in the eyes of everyone else keeps us from scheduling into our Google calendar those things that allow our spirit to grow in Christ. We need sleep. We need exercise. We need meditation. We need silent prayer. We need Bible studies. We need church.

Forcing ourselves into a disciplined rule that places our relationship with Christ at the highest priority above everything else would give us peace over pressure, insight over ignorance, and purpose over perplexity. When Scripture teaches us that if we seek the Kingdom of God first, all these things will be added, it is not all supernatural. Prioritizing our spiritual health in Christ will give us the calmness and clarity to accomplish more than when we are stressed, confused, worried, and spiritually undernourished.

Prayer: Lord, help me to create disciplines to do every day at the same time to keep my spiritual health in You as my highest priority. Amen.