^“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘”Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'” 1 Samuel 16:7

I have found there is only one thing that makes a true difference in a person- the heart.

As Americans, we spend billions of dollars on our bodies and minds and our hearts lay untouched.

America is so worried about our physical health. According to Cision PRNewsWire, our weight loss market is worth $66 billion. Sixty-six BILLION. That is how much Americans want to be in shape.

That is a lot of money.

We also focus on our mental health. Mental health is super important. I am a huge mental health advocate and I believe in medication, therapy and using good coping mechanisms to solve problems and become more emotionally stable. After all, what we think is tied to what we feel, and our mental and emotional health can become synonymous at times. According to Statista, “It has been predicted that by the year 2020 total U.S. expenditure on mental health services will reach some 238 billion dollars.” Two hundred and thirty-eight BILLION.

So we know we as Americans care about our physical health and our emotional health. We meal prep. We plan our therapy visits. We read “self-help” books. I am not bashing any of these things. In fact, I do all of them.

But there is something God has convicted me of lately, “Lisa, how are you doing on your spiritual health?”

When is the last time we spent time with God?

The last time we prayed?

The last time we quoted or memorized scripture?

When is the last time we gathered with a group of like- minded believers and talked about life and how to better ourselves through the grace of God and our service to the world?

We are so good at keeping our bodies “healthy,” while all the while our souls are dying.

We claim Jesus and yet we spend no time with Him, and I am so guilty of this.

Physical and emotional health is important. Behavior modification is beneficial. But the only One who can truly save the soul is Jesus.

We can try it with other things: relationships, alcohol, drugs, being “good,” but none of those things will soothe the soul quite like Jesus.

A heart change is a head change is a behavior change is a world change. 

Beloved, we are called to be different. We are called to be holy. We are called to not only care about how we honor God with out bodies, but how we honor Him with our souls.

How is your spiritual health?

How is mine?

Let’s take a tough look into our souls today and reevaluate some things.

At the end of the day God is not going to look at our BMIs. He isn’t going to ask us if we have zen. His ultimate concern is not our weight. His ultimate concern is our hearts.

Jesus searches the heart.

You are loved.
You are valued.
You are useful.

Works Cited

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-weight-loss-market-worth-66-billion-300573968.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/252393/total-us-expenditure-for-mental-health-services/