Proverbs 14:30 - Understanding the Spiritual / Physical Connection
* Our spiritual lives affect our physical bodies.
* Our physical bodies are mirrors of our spiritual life.
* God made us to be His messengers to bring the good news into the world.
* As such, we help people, communities, organizations, cultures, and governments function as God intended them to function.
* How? By bringing the truth - God’s ways are best and you have His provision and protection if you do things His way.
* It works like this:
* God - Church - People - World (Institutions, governments, etc).
* Our bodies are made the same way.
* Brain - Glands - Hormones - Body (Organs, tissues, etc).
* Just as people are the messengers in the world, hormones are the messengers of our bodies.
* They tell our organs and tissues what to do and how to function.
* EX: Brain - Pancreas - Insulin - Blood Sugar Levels.
* If the pancreas functions like it should, blood sugar levels are good and we’re healthy.
* If it doesn’t, then it secretes too much or too little insulin, our body is in trouble.
* HORMONES - if they are healthy, the body is healthy.
* EX: Adrenaline & Cortisol.
* Adrenaline, the primary energy hormone, pumps you up.
* Cortisol, the primary stress hormone. It orchestrates organ function in a stressful situation so your energy is used properly.
* Cortisol curbs functions that would be nonessential in a fight-or-flight situation - It alters immune system, suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system, and growth processes.
* It puts those “lesser” functions on pause so the body can focus on the threat.
* EXAMPLE: When you encounter a perceived threat — such as a large dog barking at you during your morning walk — your brain sets off an alarm system in your body. It alerts your adrenal glands to release a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.
* Adrenalin gives you energy to get moving.
* Cortisol regulates your organs so your body properly uses that energy (by turning off non-essential organs briefly to focus energy on the threat).
* When the threat is past, hormone levels should go back to normal.
* PROBLEM - elevated cortisol can break down your body.
* ** The long-term activation of the stress response system and the overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones that follows can disrupt almost all your body's processes. This puts you at increased risk of many health problems, including:
* Anxiety, Depression, Digestive problems, Headaches, Muscle tension and pain, Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke, Sleep problems, Weight gain, Memory and concentration impairment.
* SOLUTION - Proverbs 14:30a - “A heart at peace gives life to the body…”
* Jesus rebuked the disciples when they got all out of shape while He slept in the boat.
* Vs 30b - “…but envy rots the bones.” - Envy robs your peace.
* Envy - “a feeling of discontentment or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions.”
* Envy is “aroused,” which means it was lying dormant inside you. What aroused it? Seeing someone else with something you want.
* So how do you kill it? Contentment. Contentment is “an emotional state of satisfaction resulting from the acceptance of one’s situation.”
* The same thing that kills envy fuels peace - contentment.
* PRACTICAL STEPS - Regulate your hormones through:
* Gratitude
* Prayer (emphasis on reflecting and listening)
* Read
* Write (journal)
* Exercise
* Trim Your Decisions
