I have asked the question, ‘Who wants Perfect Health?’ to over a thousand people and the response invariably has been all hands raised. I follow by asking another question, ‘Who has perfect health?’ And only a few hands are raised and most of those hands have been children. From my anecdotal observations, I see that most people consider that they are not as healthy as they would like and crave perfect health.
Responses to that question have included exercise, water, sunshine, a healthy diet, adequate sleep etc. These are all reasonable answers, and they do help achieve some elements of health. However, according to the Bible and the inspired guidance from Ellen White, we need only three things to achieve perfect health. Yes, just three things to gain perfect health. Those key things are:
Perfect Circulation
Temperance and
Love, Hope and Joy
So let’s just quickly review what the Bible says about those three areas and I’ll also tap into what the inspired writings of Ellen White offer as well.
Perfect Circulation
The Bible emphatically declares that blood is life and life is the blood (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11-10, 14; Deuteronomy 12:23; Ezekiel 3:18; Jonah 1:14). Jesus alluded to this physiological connection when He shared, what the listeners stated was a ‘hard saying,’ that His blood gives life. Jesus was referring to His ability to give eternal life (John 6:53-54) but the underlying principle is that blood gives life. In The Ministry of Healing, [1] Ellen White states “In order to have good health, we must have good blood; for the blood is the current of life. It repairs waste and nourishes the body. When supplied with the proper food elements and when cleansed and vitalized by contact with pure air, it carries life and vigor to every part of the system. The more perfect the circulation, the better will this work be accomplished.”
We can see that the blood is crucially important. If our blood is not healthy, if our circulation is not working effectively then we will get sick and become diseased.
Herein lies the first step on the journey to perfect health; we need perfect circulation to move the life, blood, around the body so that it will nourish, repair and remove waste.
Temperance
What is temperance? True temperance?
True temperance teaches us to dispense entirely with everything hurtful, harmful, and damaging and to use carefully, wisely, and judiciously that which is healthful. True Temperance also teaches us to discipline our bodies, that our mind controls the body and not the other way.
The Bible talks about temperance using the example of honey. “My son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste..(Proverbs 24:13). Then the next chapter the Bible cautions, “Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.” (Proverbs 25:16) We can certainly have too much of a good thing that will invariably make us sick.
To explain temperance the apostle Paul talks about athletes running a race or sparring in a ring. Paul states that “everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.” He continues to warn his readers that “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Paul highlights an important principle that if we are intemperate in this life we will lose eternal life. The Greek word ‘adokimos’ which is translated disqualified in the New King James Version has the meaning of rejection, worthless, and reprobate. (See also Deuteronomy 21:20-21). It is a serious sin to be intemperate, it will cost us our eternal life.
Love, Hope and Joy
So we have looked at Perfect Circulation, True Temperance and now we are going to touch on Love, Hope and Joy. The first part, circulation deals with the physical body. The second, True Temperance deals with the mind, the frontal lobe controlling the body and appetite (all types, not just food). The third element to achieving Perfect Health is the spiritual and emotional element. This is the area that is the most difficult to address.
As Christians, we believe that God is our creator. God declares “Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:7). God made us and “is the great Caretaker of the human machinery. In the care of our bodies, we must cooperate with Him. Love for God is essential for life and health. Faith in God is also essential to health. In order to have perfect health, our hearts must be filled with love and hope and joy.” [1]
We live in a world of sin, where bad things happen. We are beset by so many different emotional and spiritual issues: fear (COVID), bereavement and grief, worry (about exams, jobs, children, finances, the church, marital relationships etc), We experience depression (excess past), stress (excess present), and anxiety (excess future).[2] We experience pain from our loved ones, unforgiveness, hatred, and loneliness even in marriage.
The Psalmists sing about these negative emotions. The Sons of Korah wrote the classical lyrics for Psalms 42; “My tears have been my food day and night.. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?…O my God, my soul is cast down within me.. Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
We are told in book The Ministry of Healing “The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of our mind affects our health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which we suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death.”
Our body's immune system responds to these negative emotions by revving up. Our adrenal glands, which are small organs above the kidneys, respond to stress by releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are part of your "fight or flight" response. They increase your blood pressure and heart rate and other physiological actions. According to the theory, if you have long-term stress (like the death of a family member, or a serious illness, or are constantly bombarded with fear), your adrenal glands burn out from prolonged production of cortisol. So adrenal fatigue sets in. And disease follows
Sickness of the mind prevails everywhere.” Then follows this astounding statement that “Nine-tenths of the diseases from which men suffer have their foundation here”. Ninety per cent of diseases start in the mind, in how we respond to life events.
Are we taught how to manage these? Did your parent sit you down and discuss how to cope with or manage loss, guilt, anxiety, and fear? I know my parents certainly did not.
But to have Perfect Health we MUST have Love, Hope and Joy.
So how do we overcome this and have Love Hope and Joy? In the Bible there is hope. There is Love. There is Faith. There is Joy. The Sons of Korah conclude Psalm 42 with "Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”
The apostle Paul gave us the solution of how to have Love, Hope and Joy. Good news, it is something that we can learn. Modern science calls it cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT can help manage our problems by changing the way we think and behave. Thousands of research trials have demonstrated that CBT is an effective treatment for conditions from anxiety and depression to pain and insomnia. Paul recite a long list of adverse experiences he’s encountered in 2 Corinthians. Enough to make you depressed, stressed and anxious, even, God forbid, even suicidal.
Yet despite going through these traumatic life events, Paul can say “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4: 11-13 Paul has laernt to respond positively to negative life evnts through focusing on Christ.
Indeed, godliness with contentment is great gain. Scripture is truly powerful. Memorisation of scripture and repeating it out loud is truly a sword against life’s circumstances. Another tool to fight against negative life experiences is singing. “Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement. As we thus open the heart to the sunlight of the Saviour’s presence, we shall have health and His blessing.” [1]
"A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." Proverbs 15:13 "A merry heart does good like a medicine; but a broken spirit dries the bones." Proverbs 17:22. What’s in the bones? Marrow, which makes red blood cells. So we have come full circle back to perfect circulation. Each one of the three areas impact the other and are intricately linked.
Jesus is our great role model and the physician Luke says that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man.” (2: 52)
That single verse captures the three components of Perfect Health.
Jesus increased in stature which is the physical and Perfect Circulation; He increased in wisdom, the mental which is True Temperance; and favour with God and man, which is the spiritual, emotional element of Love, Hope and Joy.
Manna House is a place that prioritises the pursuit of Perfect Health for health guests through these three key areas: Perfect Circulation, Temperance, and Love, Joy, and Hope.
In the pursuit of perfect health, we must recognise it involves a harmonious blend of mind, body, and spirit. Perfect circulation, true temperance, and a heart filled with love, hope, and joy are not isolated elements but interconnected parts of a whole. To cultivate perfect health, we must nurture the lifeblood of the body through perfect circulation, exercise restraint and wisdom through temperance, and foster the soul with the presence of love, hope, and joy, our Creator and God. At Manna House, these three areas are woven together to create a wholistic approach to health and wellness that helps individuals live abundant lives. As we seek to mirror the balance that Jesus exemplified—increase in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and man—we too can achieve a state of health that is robust, complete, and perfect.
References
1. White, E. G. (1905) The Ministry of Healing. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association
2. Megosa, J. Borges, M. (2017) The Power of Hope, Overcoming depression, anxiety, guilt and stress. Reveiw and Herald