Very few of us miss a meal. If we do miss a meal, we feel hungry. Our body craves the nutrients it needs to satisfy itself. We’re inclined to seek out and eat that for which we need. The interesting thing about skipping meals is that after a while ghrelin, the hormone that’s produced to tell your brain that it’s time to eat, falls. When someone skips meals for an extended period of time, their body produces less ghrelin and they feel less hungry. This might be helpful for someone to lose weight, but it’s not helpful for someone with a chronic eating disorder who is in dangerous need of nutrients to live.
There are certain spiritual nutrients that we need to survive. Often unbelievers deny the spiritual hunger they experience. Still, the hunger is there for something they can’t identify because their heart is closed to the things of God. Not knowing that only Christ will satiate their hunger, they instead choose to fill the “God shaped whole” in their soul with the things of this world.
Believers might also fall into the trap of spiritual starvation. Like falling ghrelin in a person who skips a meal, the hunger for spiritual nourishment is diminished over time when Christians skip their spiritual meals. One might say their once soft heart to the things of God has become hardened. The soft, pliable spiritual arteries that once carried the Word of God through their blood stream to their vital spiritual organs – the heart, mind, and soul – have become clogged with the plaque of sin. The fat of worldliness, the calcium of doubt, and the cholesterol of disillusionment have damaged the believer’s heart.
There may be reasons outside of the scope of a healthy spiritual diet that caused someone to have spiritual heart disease. Nevertheless, just like a healthy diet and exercise can help our physical heart stay healthy, a healthy spiritual diet and spiritual exercise can help our spiritual heart stay healthy.
A healthy spiritual diet consists of prayer, meditation, and reading and studying God’s Word. Prayer and meditation provide a meaningful way to deepen our relationship with God and invite the Holy Spirit to guide our hearts. Jesus often took time alone for prayer, like we see in Luke 5:16. The Gospels also show us how He would find quiet spots for reflection and prayer, sometimes even spending whole nights talking to God (Luke 6:12). Jesus’ dedication to prayer was crucial for His ministry, providing Him with guidance and strength from God. Prayer and meditation can help to keep our spiritual heart healthy, so can reading and studying the Scriptures.
The Scriptures boost our faith by anchoring us in God’s truth. Begin with something simple; pick a verse, take your time reading it, and reflect on how God wants you to embody it today. As you put His Word into practice, your faith grows stronger, clearer, and more assured. Reading and studying God’s Word can help to keep our spiritual heart healthy. By applying what we discover into our everyday lives, we can strengthen our spiritual heart and our connection with God. In addition to a healthy spiritual diet, spiritual exercise is vital to a healthy spiritual heart.
Healthy spiritual exercise consists of worshipping God and fellowshipping with other believers. Our faith grows stronger when we engage with other believers in Christian community. God uses Christian community to encourage, challenge, and support us. Worshiping with others is another spiritual exercise that helps to build up our spiritual heart. We build up our faith by listening to God’s Word, praising Him in song, and being reminded of God’s promises for our lives. Whether it’s a small group, a Bible study, or friendships at church, engaging in regular spiritual exercise helps us to stay grounded in God’s truth and keep our heart spiritually healthy.
