The Essentials of Spiritual Health: Understanding the Seven Essentials of Your Spiritual Health

By Randy Christian

We have all seen that the stronger we are physically, the more capable we are of fighting off physical illness and attack. But what about spiritual health, which defines how we respond to crises in our lives? The Essentials of Spiritual Health provides a clear and simple look at what makes someone spiritually healthy and provides clear guidance for becoming healthy spiritually.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781644687680

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The Essentials of Spiritual Health

Dr. Randy Christian

ISBN 978-1-64468-767-3 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64468-768-0 (Digital)

Copyright © 2020 Randy Christian

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Introduction

It would be easy to read this book and see it as mechanical: Do this and this will happen, or even legalistic: I will do these things and God will then have to do what I want.

That would be a terrible mistake.

This book is about our relationship with Jesus. It is about living out the living sacrifice of Romans 12.

It is about God’s children doing the very best they can, not to make something else happen or somehow manipulate our Lord, but to hear Him say, You did well. Implementing any of the practices I recommend in the following pages without the motivation of obedience to Him (which John says is how we love Him; 1 John 5:3) and a desire to please Him will not gain the results we hope for.

That means that this book is not intended for those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior (a package deal, by the way—there is no such thing as accepting Him as Savior without Him being Lord). And this book is not intended to take the place of a relationship with a local church. So, if you have not taken Jesus as Lord and Savior and would like to, I strongly recommend you contact a Bible-teaching church near you and ask to talk to someone about this. You will find them thrilled to talk with you.

Health

Most of us need to

Eat healthier,

Get more exercise

Get more sleep.

These aren’t exactly revolutionary ideas.

But how many people died this year—today—from high blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, heart disease, stroke—which might be avoided by doing these things?

Why did they die?

Because they enjoyed eating too much, or too much of the wrong things (which seem to always taste better than the healthier choices). Because they wanted to get drunk or high to medicate pain they can’t deal with. Because it is easier to continue to smoke than to stop. Because they would rather sleep in than get up and work out.

Without intending it, they chose to be unhealthy, even to die.

Fighting that choice, and trying to make being healthy easier, has become a multibillion-dollar industry.

And sometimes it works.

I have heard thousands of people say they don’t feel close to God. They don’t feel their prayers are effective—or that He is even listening. They don’t get anything out of worship. They don’t understand the Bible and aren’t entirely sure it is even relevant to their lives today.

Like a physical trainer, I try to guide these people in getting spiritually healthy. And like that trainer, I see many choose not to get healthy because it is simply easier not to.

The same God who built our bodies to function in a certain way designed us spiritually.

We have a choice. We can take control of our spiritual health and development. We can get spiritually healthy. Or we can continue to act like it just happens to us and take whatever comes.

And that never works.

This book is about spiritual health, because our Lord wants us to be strong and healthy spiritually. The practices I discuss aren’t new or innovative—most of them date back at least 3,000 years. So, why is there a need for a book like this?

Because spiritual health is important—much more so than physical health.

Because spiritual health doesn’t just happen to us, it is the direct result of how we choose to live.

Because while physical health can literally mean life or death, spiritual health can bring eternal consequences.

Because the path to spiritual health isn’t obvious to most Christians. People don’t always know and understand what may seem to be obvious.

Because many people miss the direct link between spiritual health and the most important aspects of their lives—marriage, parenting, career choices, emotional health.

Because many Christians want help, but they don’t realize that spiritual health is for everyone—not just the hired guns in full-time ministry.

And because the American Church, like the American marketplace, has become focused on what people want rather than what they need.

So, I offer this simple book. There are few, if any, revolutionary thoughts in it. I also know that the majority of people who read it can, by simply making a few changes in their lives, radically strengthen their faith, and improve their lives.

I have devoted my life to serving our King by helping others to become strong followers of Jesus. In that process, I have seen many marriages healed, many families strengthened, many lives put back together. While I don’t know who is reading this, I care, because you are someone for whom My Lord and King died. So, if I can be of any help to you as you strive to follow Him and become spiritually healthy, please feel free to contact me ([e-mail]).

Making Things Grow

My wife has the proverbial green thumb. She loves to work with different plants, from cacti to rosebushes to succulents to evergreens. Our first home was half of a duplex built in the ’20s (this was in the mid-’70s). It was a dump. But she made it a home, as she has everywhere we have lived since then.

And one of the ways she does this is by making houseplants grow all over our house, as well as outside for those which are better suited for the outdoors. We had piggyback plants, African violets, snake plants (a.k.a., mother-in-law’s tongue), and coleus plants everywhere. There was more, of course, but I don’t know what they were. I just know she grew them. Everywhere.

When I entered my first full-time ministry, I was given my first office. It was huge, with a closet, two