Feelin’ Good

feeling goodI woke up this morning with an old blues rocker song from Elvin Bishop called “Feelin’ Good” playing in my head. Funny thing is I wasn’t feeling bad when I went to bed. However, my wife and I spent a wonderful day yesterday driving along the Gulf Coast to Panama City Beach and had lunch there. We have great memories there because that is where we honeymooned. Ending a long four-day Independence Day weekend spending time with my bride always makes for “feelin’ good.”

Studies have shown that human wholeness combines spiritual health with physical health. Our emotional and mental states can literally make us ill, so having a healthy spirit makes for overall health wellness.

I am not talking about having a healthy self-esteem. That is a lie from the pit of hell. No where in the Bible do you find instruction on how to esteem oneself. In fact we are taught just the opposite:

    “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs 27:2)

Some of the psycho babble we’ve heard for a generation has taught the “importance” of self-esteem. Unfortunately, many pulpits across America have taught this, some of which I greatly admire. The problem with self-esteem is it can lead to an unhealthy self-confidence, and this can lead to foolish to downright dangerous behavior:

    “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.” (Proverbs 28:26)

So Brother Dave are you proposing we have a self-loathing or hatred for oneself? Of course not, that would obviously be unhealthy and also unbiblical. We need to have have a healthy self-image, not in how we esteem ourselves or place too much confidence in oneself. We need to see ourselves as Christ sees us. For that to happen we must first seek Him:

    “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face evermore!” (Psalm 105:4)

Once I start seeking the Lord and studying His word, I begin to take an account of myself. Right before I first came to Christ for eternal salvation, a friend asked me if I thought I would go to heaven when I died. I emphatically answered yes. She was surprised by my level of confidence and asked me upon what I based it. I went down the mental list I had as to why I believed I was going to heaven. She asked if I had a Bible and I told her yes. She gave me a list of verses to look up and as I did, one-by-one my list got erased. I examined myself through the truth of Scripture and realized I needed Christ for salvation. This too is what the Bible teaches:

    “Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:40)

Examining our spiritual health is the most important check up you’ll ever receive. Knowing that you are a child of God is the beginning of mental and spiritual health. No one takes off on a trip without a destination, and not knowing your final destination is an unhealthy state of mind. You may believe that all humans are children of God, but again you would believe a lie from the pit of hell. Speaking of Jesus, the Bible clearly says:

    “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12)

This is a very important step to take. To know whether or not you are truly a child of God literally has eternal consequences. The Apostle Paul instructed the Corinthian church about this in his last letter to them:

    “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” (2 Corinthians 13:5)

When we examine ourselves through the light of Scripture, we get a true picture of who we really are, not what we imagine ourselves to be. No one first believes they are lost and then seeks out the Lord for salvation. We must first be drawn by the Father to Jesus Christ. Seeing ourselves for who we truly are means looking at ourselves first rather than others:

    “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5)

This is not always a pleasant journey to take, but the destination is definitely worth it. The end of the journey brings true joy to one’s life and a level of spiritual health that far exceeds any self-esteem you can produce:

    “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” (Galatians 6:4)

The above verse might seem a contradiction in that rejoicing in oneself could be conceived as self-esteem. What Paul is teaching the Galatians to do is to self-examine themselves to be sure that they have true joy because of the fruits of their lives. A life changed by Jesus will bear much spiritual fruit, and we can rejoice in that we know all we do is because of and for Jesus Christ.

Do you have that type of joy and spiritual health?

How long has it been since you’ve been “feelin’ good?”

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2014 David Jeffers

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