Episode #72 - Physical, Mental, Social, Spiritual

I was so pleased to see the Hub Coffee Shop here in Danville partnering with a local organization to raise awareness for having good mental health. In addition to free coffee, as you walked in you were able to put a note up telling others what helped to bring you good mental health. To quote the Hub, "Your mental health is just as important as your physical." Well...so is your spiritual health, above all. Jesus grew in every way - in wisdom (intillectual), in stature (physical) and in favor with God (spiritual) and man (social). We must strive to not neglect any of these - because when we do, they all impact one another. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to all of our listeners! I’m BJ Sipe, and you’re listening to the Set Your Mind Above podcast – where everyday ordinary events teach us extraordinary eternal truths. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today, I am excited to share my life and my faith with you, and I sure hope that you’ll do the same with me along the way. 

As most of you know, I am an avid supporter of our local coffee shops here in Danville. The Hub Coffee House & Café on Main street has been my home away from home since we moved here two years ago, and of course I have been a proud supporter of our newest addition in Dry Stack Coffee Co. that also opened across the street from the Hub downtown. I have tried to build relationships with the owners from both locations, even with the recent change in ownership over at the Hub, as it is so important to be connected in your communities and support local businesses. It makes it so easy to do that when your local establishments are busy dedicating themselves to serving their community not only through their business, but through other efforts as well. That is why I was so excited to see The Hub Coffee House make the following announcement on social media yesterday: “We are overjoyed to be partnering with Mindsight Behavioral Health Group tomorrow to provide free coffee to our fist 100 customers at the Main Street location. Our owners & team strive every day to be advocates of mental health. Mindsight Behavioral Health offers a variety of counseling services right here in Danville. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health.” Needless to say, I was absolutely going to swing by the Hub this morning to learn more and support this fantastic effort to raise awareness surrounding mental health. It was convenient that this fell on the day we normally have our 8:30 Bible study at the Hub, so we kept our schedule and managed to all squeeze in and get our free coffee this morning. What was so neat to see was on the glass windows as you first walk in, there was a sign asking, “What makes you happy or helps your mental health?” Below the sign were post it notes and pens and people were encouraged to write down their answers and share them with others. There was a common thread, which I found very telling, that shared what brought them joy and good mental health was Jesus. Almost every single note said something about the Lord. Others had coffee, their family, their work, and many other very good answers that people shared from their heart with our community to see. Randy Ratliff even wrote down this podcast down and shared it on the wall, so if we have any new listeners tuning in here from our Danville community, I’m so glad that you’re here! If there is any way that I personally can serve you or if you have questions about God & the Bible, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and I would be happy to sit down with you and talk about these things over a cup of coffee. Back to the subject matter, I was so grateful to see the Hub promoting good mental health and partnering with his organization, because they are exactly right: your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Our culture places a heavy emphasis on good physical health: people are generally open about dieting, fitness, and things pertaining to that nature. Most people have gym memberships, frequently do check ups with their primary doctors, and are mindful to not go crazy with the kinds of things they are putting into their body. But having good physical health means next to nothing if you don’t also have good mental health. In our culture, there is for whatever reason still a sense of shame involved with talking about mental health for so many. People try to hide their depression, or hide the fact that they are seeing a counselor. The fact is there should be nothing to hide – we ought to be just as dedicated and open about good mental health as we are our physical health. 

Thinking about these things made me ponder: what are other areas that are just as important not to neglect as our physical and mental health? Confession time – this reminded me of something that was said to me by a counselor that Kylie and I saw in Texas to help us with our marriage. His name is Randy Powell, and he has made a profound impact in our life more than he could ever realize. As we sat with him, one of the things that he discussed with us is the principle of PIES – that is physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Each of these areas in our life are their own separate domain that are at the same time interwoven with one another. When one suffers, often the others suffer. When one grows, often the others grow. Think about it – often when you’re stressed emotionally, it effects the other areas: you can’t sleep or eat well, you are tempted to do things you normally would not, and it’s hard to focus. They all are equally important, and neglecting one will often hurt the others. But this principle is not unique to Randy’s wise counsel, these truths he discovered by studying God’s Word. Consider what is said of Jesus when he was still a young man in Luke 2:52. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” This is a verse that would be easy to read over and think nothing of, but there is much for us to understand from this lone verse. Jesus grew in every way, and notice that all four are represented here: he increased in wisdom (intellectual), in stature (physical) and in favor with God (spiritual) and man (social). These are essentially the very same things that were shared with us in counseling as we tried to grow in our mental health together as a couple. Jesus, of course as we know, is the spotless and perfect lamb of God. He was the very definition of what it means to be blameless, mature, and sinless in every way. However, that was not accomplished by neglecting important aspects of his life. Jesus ensured that he nurtured every area of his life – not just physical, not just intellectual, not just social, but also spiritual. As you look at the life and ministry of Jesus, he did and accomplished what he was able to do because of the relationship he had with the Father. He and the Father were one, and Jesus did nothing on his own authority, he was the one in whom the Father was well pleased. If I’m being perfectly honest, I believe the aspect of our health that most people neglect today is the most important one: and that is our spiritual health. People will dedicate all kinds of time and energy to develop their physical and mental health, and yet not give a second thought to their relationship with Jesus. How many days have gone by in our own lives that we are guilty of this? I’ll make it to the gym for an hour in the morning, but when’s the last time I got up and prayed for that long? I’ll read a book on mental health, but I am hard pressed to pick up the Bible. But my friends, can’t we understand that our physical and even to an aspect our mental health mean nothing in the long run if we don’t take our spiritual health seriously? No matter how heathy you are physically, we are all going to die one day. No matter how emotionally sound you are in this moment, one day we will all stand in judgment before God. Simply doing what makes us “happy” does not always result in doing what makes us holy. And in the end, that is all that matters. Look at Jesus – and absolutely in everyway do not neglect your physical and mental health, just as he did not. But above all, ensure that you are dedicating yourself to developing good spiritual health in your life and in your walk with Jesus. 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode. Tune in, Tuesday-Fridays, as a new podcast episode will be uploaded each day. Also, be sure to follow the Facebook page for the Set Your Mind Above podcast for future announcements and video sessions. As you have the opportunity, share these thoughts with your friends and family, and share with me what important lessons you are learning from every day, ordinary events. Until next time know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.