Striving Towards Wholeness and Well-Being

There are many different dimensions comprising our human person: physical, cognitive, emotional, social, environmental, vocational, and spiritual. These dimensions are interrelated and interdependent. Any continuing imbalance in one of these dimensions can affect all other dimensions, whether we are aware of it or not. Our well-being and wholeness depend on striving to some find balance in these dimensions of our lives.

Of course, it is important to exercise, eat well, and get necessary sleep and rest to help maintain your body. Similarly, you need to engage in stimulating thought and creative activities to nurture your brain and intellectual development. Likewise, you need to provide the necessary time, attention, and means to support, sustain, and nurture the other dimensions of your life; but again, intending and striving to find an appropriate balance between them.

To nurture our spiritual dimension, Jesus calls us to follow him (Lk. 18:22), because "this is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk. 1:15). Jesus came "with the Spirit of the Lord upon [him] because he has anointed [him] to bring glad tidings to the poor,...to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord" (Lk. 4:18–19).

Jesus teaches that our lives should be guided by the two “greatest commandments” — to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love others as God loves us (see Mk. 12:30; Matt. 22:37–39; Lk. 10:27; Jn 13:34). Our love is to be expressed through our thoughts, words, and actions — “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. . . .” (Matt. 7:12); and to minister to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, and the imprisoned (see Matt. 25:31–46).

We are called to spend time with scripture because “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17).

We are called to worship our God: “Enter, let us bow down and worship; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” (Ps. 95:6); “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him only shall you serve.” (Luke 4:8; Matt. 4:10); “We should offer worship pleasing to God in reverence and awe” (Heb. 12:28); “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

We are called to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing [through our thoughts, words, and actions], in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18); and to “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7). "But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you" (Matt. 6:6)

You are invited to reflect on how much of your waking time during the day or the week, and in what ways do you spend maintaining, cultivating, nurturing, and growing in love in your relationships with God and with others?