This is not an article on health and wellness. It is much more important than that. (If my mother is reading this I want to go on record as saying that I do believe we all should eat our vegetables! Love you, mom.) The question is: why would we take better care of our bodies than we do our souls?

A man’s spirit is most important because it is the eternal part of him. This is what the Apostle Paul taught when he wrote to young Timothy, “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). The greater thing is the soul. The lesser thing is the body.

John prayed for a fellow believer, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2). This is not the modern health and wealth gospel. Instead, it is a prayer that this man would know as much blessing in his body as he had already experienced in his inner man. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that could be prayed for us! The spirit should come first.

A friend recently commented to me that all too often God’s people give attention to having the right doctrinal convictions but fail to develop a healthy soul. Is your soul healthy?

Medical doctors always seem to come back to two key things for continued health: diet and exercise. Simple, powerful words. Disciplines. A way of life.

This is the secret of a healthy soul! The laws of nature are often simply reflections of the law of God in other realms. What is true in the physical world is equally true in the spiritual. The inner man must be nourished every day through God’s Word and faith must be exercised.

Now back to those famous words – you are what you eat.

We attend camps, revival meetings, conferences. God’s Word is preached and taught and something inside begins to stir. We leave determined to follow Christ. During these seasons we are feeding the spirit and starving the flesh.

Once home we lay down the Scriptures and pick up old habits and cultural influence. Before long fleshly desires and worldly appetites have returned. What is this strange phenomenon? We are now feeding the flesh and starving the spirit.

Here is the principle: Whatever you feed grows.

Feed the flesh and it will grow. Feed the spirit and it will grow. You are what you eat.

It is good to work on your body. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit and the only one you will have in this world. But especially guard what you feed your inner man today. Be intentional about the spiritual food that you put into your heart and mind. By God’s grace determine to develop and maintain a healthy soul.