Considering God's Prescription for Well-Being

The Bible not only prescribes principles for good conduct, but God's Spirit is with us to empower us
to carry them out. Take, for instance, Hebrews 13:
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
6 So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

These are powerful statements here, and can remind us of God's mighty power - within us.  He is available to live in content, knowing that He will bring His will to pass in our lives as we surrender to His ways.  We have the assurance that He is always with us.   And, in times that are characterized by fear, we can exert faith to stand strong amidst the challenges we encounter.  We have accessibility to His strength, and we can rejoice in that!

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The apostle Paul demonstrated a dependence on God and an attitude of contentment.  We can see that in Philippians 4:
11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

How are you doing?   Feeling allright today?

Maybe things aren't going too well - perhaps you're a bit concerned over personal decisions you have to make,

Our you just might be generally fearful about the future.

On this Survey Thursday, I want to focus in on a recent Gallup survey, which actually took place during practically the entirety of 2015 and encompassed 177,000 respondents. It measured what it calls the Well-Being Index, which, according to Gallup's website, is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest possible well-being and 100 represents the highest possible well-being.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index score for the nation and for each state comprises metrics affecting overall well-being and each of the five essential elements of well-being:

• Purpose: liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals
• Social: having supportive relationships and love in your life
• Financial: managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security
• Community: liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community
• Physical: having good health and enough energy to get things done daily...

The score for the entire U.S.?  61.7 - a tenth of a point up from 2014.  In school, that would be a "D," close to a failing grade.

Now, there are some positive signs, as the summary of the survey points out:  Those would include "a decline in the uninsured rate, a decline in the smoking rate and an increase in reported exercise. Food insecurity, defined as not having enough money for food at least once in the last 12 months, has also dropped significantly since 2013 to a seven-year low."

Obesity in the U.S. has continued to climb and reached a new high mark last year.  The rate of those working part-time jobs but seeking full-time work has been slow to improve - these "involuntarily part-time" workers exhibit financial well-being that is no better than the unemployed.

And, as the summary points out:

Actively seeking improvement in physical wellness is better than doing nothing at all, but research has shown that those who have high well-being across all five elements of well-being perform better than those who are physically fit alone.

Which states did best?   Hawaii residents had the highest well-being of any state in the nation in 2015, followed by last year's top state, Alaska.  The rest of the top 5 were Montana, Colorado and Wyoming.   Residents of West Virginia and Kentucky have the lowest and second-lowest well-being, respectively, for the seventh consecutive year.

In the Faith Radio coverage area, the survey shows that Florida ranked 12th, Alabama was at #28, and Georgia finished at 41st.

So, here are your 5 elements:  Purpose, Social, Financial, Community, & Physical.

And, you know, God's Word speaks to all of them!!

Regarding purpose, He will give us His joy and enable us to be content.  As we live in His love, devoted to the glory of God and seeking to produce fruit for His glory, He will give us a rewarding life.

God addresses the social nature of our lives - because we love Him, we can depend on Him to bring people into our lives with whom we can interact, to fellowship, and perhaps to reach out to in ministry.

The Bible teaches about the financial components of our lives...God gives us His perspective on money and instructs us on being good stewards of what He has provided for us to use.

With regard to community, I believe that we can be content in our living conditions and be involved in community activities, recognizing that we were placed here to be integrated into lives of others. I believe that we can contribute to the betterment of our communities.

Finally, we recognize that God is concerned about the physical elements of our lives - our bodies are God's temple, and it's important that we take care of them.

You see, the spiritual aspects of our lives can flow into other areas, and the way we respond to others, to our communities, and our mental and emotional health, can all be addressed through the application of God's truth.