You Can't Fake Health

I take health for granted.

I’ve been rocking the same size jeans (32x34, baby!) since I was in 10th grade. I haven’t spent an overnight in the hospital since I was, like, 12. I don’t watch what I eat but I look fit. I don’t exercise but people assume I can run for miles.

I look healthy and seem healthy, but why do I take my health for granted?

How’s my cholesterol? Beats me! Do I have some lurking issues that are just waiting to spring up on me? Who knows! Because I can fake health via a good metabolism and ridiculous good looks (at least according to my wife…) I just act like I’m healthy--even though I do not live a healthy lifestyle.

It’s like true confession time up in here.

As dangerous as it is for me to take my physical health for granted in the long term, it’s equally dangerous to neglect my emotional and spiritual health.

I can seem like I have it all together. I don’t break a sweat running from meeting to meeting, getting up on that platform, prepping for Sunday school, Sunday morning, Sunday night and Thursday night, and generally being on call for whatever the church needs.

But looks can be deceiving.

When I’m at home, do I spend all my conversation time with my wife decompressing and processing what happened that day at church? Am I building real relational time into my schedule, or are all of my interactions about pouring into others, without ever recharging my own battery?

This week we talked to Erik and I felt convicted. Where’s my margin? Where are my hobbies? Where is the intentional time that I’m building in to connect to Jesus, to friends, to family?

It's a tough thing to take a serious look at your life and ask the tough questions. Especially when things look like they're going well. The only person who knows how emotionally health you are is you, but if you don't take some steps in the right direction, it will catch up with you.

We can’t fake our emotional health and we certainly can’t take the health we have for granted. Our conversation with Erik was a wake-up call for me. How about you?