Saturday, January 7, 2012

Are Good Nutrition and Exercise Enough to Be Healthy?

The motto of Loma Linda University and Medical Center, where I work, is "to make man whole". Our goal for students, staff, faculty, and patients is to help one another achieve a balanced, healthy life. However, in order to live in wholeness, several aspects of life have to be addressed. To be healthy and whole, it doesn't mean just eating properly. It doesn't mean just making sure you work out and exercise on a regular basis. On the other hand, it is just not nutrition and exercise together, and nothing else is needed. Other than nutrition and exercise, we can also add spending adequate time with family and friends, giving our best while at work, volunteering our time, and spending time with the Peacemaker.

Last month, Pastor Randy Roberts of Loma Linda University Church, gave a meaningful and encouraging sermon on peace. Click here if you would like to view and listen to his sermon. In his sermon, he talks about the importance of peace in our lives despite going through difficulty. I really appreciated his reminder of the verse found in Philippians 4:6 and 7, which says "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus".

You can eat as healthy as you want 365 days a year and exercise 365 days a year, but if you live in a lot of anxiety, that can stress your body and cancel the effects of good nutrition and exercise. Excessive unhealthy stress can wreak havoc on our immune systems. This can then lead to illness.

I need the personal reminder of Philippians 4:6 & 7, because while working full time and working on a PhD, I can definitely break down, or have already broken down several times into tears. However, it is by the grace of God, leaning on Him, trusting in Him that is helping me get through life one day at time. When I focus on His blessings and thank Him for all He has done for me thus far in my life, the peace of God does come over me and relaxes me. True peace only comes from Him and He is willing to give you the peace that you want as well. We can have his peace even when things are going crazy around us in our personal lives. We can have his peace and the assurance that He will take care of our concerns.  In addition to eating well and exercising, allow the peace of God's love to make you healthy and whole.

At the end of Pastor Roberts' sermon that Sabbath, I sang "Let There Be Peace on Earth and Wonderful Peace" with my pianist, Kwasi Agyeman.The video clip was taken while we were putting the two songs together in one of our practice sessions.  Hopefully the words to parts of the songs will be a blessing to you. So, just to warn you, we're very informal here...and I was happy at the end that we were getting close to make this medley work.



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What does being whole mean to you?

2 comments:

Unknown said...
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JeJe Noval, R.D. said...

Yes, I agree, it can be for some people no matter what weight...normal weight, underweight, or overweight especially if they are fortunate to live stress free lives or not have any difficulties in life.