This episode of my podcast is a continuation of the series on re-shaping our diet and health around the Bible. Today’s topic is on how “health envy” leads us to define healthiness by the world’s standards. If you missed the last episode on what the Bible says about personal health convictions, you can listen to it here.
Listen to the episode:
The Curse of Social Media
I hate social media. The minute you get on, you’re inundated with picture perfect moments of other people’s lives. There are pictures of women who are thin and fit and can pull off a sports bra (not that you want to post a picture of you in yours). You see their pretty and well organized homes. They even have time to do their make-up, though no one knows how they have the time. Confidence just radiates off them. Then you read the captions. Everyone is talking about how much energy they have all day (they don’t even need a midday coffee). Then, before you know it, envy sets in. Why can’t you have their body? Or a clean home would be nice.
The number one problem with health envy is that you start to use others’ projections of healthiness to determine what healthiness is and looks like. And, unfortunately, health is often idealized, meaning we define health by all the good things we see and none of the bad. It’s also often idolized, especially on social media.
It’s Ok to Want to Look and Feel Healthy.
There is a healthy desire that God designed us to have to want to look and feel healthy. Women want to embody beauty, and that’s good. But, we have to define healthiness and beauty the way God does because there is a thin line between health and vanity.
So, let’s see how the Bible defines health…
Define Healthiness As God Does
The following are several verses from the Old and New Testaments about what health is…
Old Testament
“Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children.”
Genesis 20:17
“If men have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but remains in bed, if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and shall take care of him until he is completely healed.”
Exodus 21:18-19
Regarding the Levitical law on infectious diseases (like leprosy)… “When the body has a boil on its skin and it is healed…”
Leviticus 13:18
When God was telling the Israelites the consequences of breaking the covenant between them… “The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors and with the scab and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.”
Deuteronomy 28:27
The words italicized in the above verses come from the Hebrew word rapha. According to Abarim‘s Biblical Dictionary, the fundamental meaning of this word is “to restore, namely to a previously enjoyed state of proper functioning.” The word and its derivatives are used not only in reference to people but with nations and land.
New Testament
“And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.’”
Luke 5:31
Referring to a centurion’s slave who was sick and near death before Jesus healed him… “When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.”
Luke 7:10
Regarding the parable of the prodigal son… “And [the servant] said to [the older brother], ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’”
Luke 15:27
The words italicized in the above verses come from the Greek word hygiaínō (I dare you to try to say that one). This word is where we get the word hygiene from. According to BibleHub, it means to be free from debilitation, incapacity, or handicap – hence, functioning holistically with all parts working together. Its meaning is the opposite of having a debilitating sickness.
So, the New Testament uses health to mean physically not sick. But, the Old Testament has a fuller concept of health, so we’ll focus on that word from here on out. Rapha means “to restore” or return to a “previously enjoyed state of proper functioning”.
But What is “Proper Functioning”? Restored to What?
Deuteronomy 28, I believe, gives us a great picture of what God was restoring the Israelites to. It is also important to note that when God talked about the restoration or healing of the people of Israel, He linked their healing with their obedience to Him.
Side-note… Since your time is most likely short, I highlighted parts of the chapter instead of the whole thing. However, I highly recommend you read the whole chapter.
When the Israelites Obeyed, God Restored
“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God: ‘Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. ‘Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. ‘Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ‘Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out…'”
Deuteronomy 28:1-6
When the Israelites Turned Away From God, God Cursed
“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: ‘Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. ‘Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. ‘Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. ‘Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. ‘The Lord will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. The Lord will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish…”
Deuteronomy 28:15-22
What Does This Mean?
From the verses in Deuteronomy, we can definitely tell what health isn’t. It isn’t how many likes your half-naked body gets on social media. It isn’t being bikini-ready come summer. It isn’t having to lose all the baby weight a month after Baby is born.
We can get so caught up in appearances (thanks, social media) that we forget true health is more meaningful than that. Health is not skin deep, but it goes all the way to the soul. Therefore, it’s more than exercising or eating the “right” diet. It’s more than the number on the scale.
It’s About Obedience.
From the meaning of the Hebrew word for healing and health (rapha), we can see that true health is the restoration of the whole body – physical, spiritual, and mental. That health can only be found when we submit our lives to Jesus, repent of blocking Him out of certain (if not all) areas of our life, and bring every area – including our diet and health – under His dominion.
Do not be deceived by the health “experts” out there… Obedience to God is the source of true healing. Not their supplements, not their shots, not their prescription drugs, and not their diets.
Also, do not be deceived by the women (or men) out there who post pictures of their skinny, fit bodies… Being healthy is more than just looks. Otherwise, they are just empty white-washed tombs – beautiful on the outside but spiritually dead on the inside.
Application
So, next time you’re scrolling through social media and begin to hear that little voice that tells you you’re a failure with your health, just remember that we don’t define health like the world does. Being (and feeling) healthy is important, don’t get me wrong. However, it is only out of an obedient, repentant heart that true, meaningful healing can happen.
I am convinced that we can bring our diet and health under Christ’s dominion by returning to God’s design for dieting and living. That’s where we will find true, wholesome healing. Not only we will be able to heal our bodies, but our minds will be clear, we will be able to embody the fruits of the Spirit better, and our reliance on and gratitude for God will grow deeper.
Other Resources
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Ready to let the Bible guide your health and diet decisions but don’t know where to start? Consider working with me, then, and I will help you do just that!