Let's Talk about Biblical Self-Care
Practical Pursuit: Self-Care
I leaned forward on my faded grey steering wheel and closed my eyes. My aging CRV sat in the church parking lot outside my office doors. A voice echoed loudly on speakerphone. “You can be honest with me... Are you burnt out?”
My body was still pushing on—willing itself to show up at meetings, drinking caffeine on my way to hang out with students, and showing up like I was expected to be available at all times. But my heart had started growing cold. My fire for the Lord was fighting a never-ending battle against my own perceived expectations to perform.
My sacrificial striving had replaced any notion of self-care.
There’s an acronym for J.O.Y. that has been utilized in Western culture for some time.
Jesus first.
Others second.
Yourself last.
The Boomer generation grew up with this mentality post-war. The phrase idealized powering through difficult circumstances and continually pouring out to serve others. In essence, it communicates that we have to die to ourselves and give everything we have, including our bodies, for the kingdom.
While this adage about prioritizing Jesus and caring for others has some truth, it also communicates something that’s not Biblical: an insignificance about ourselves. Human beings are made in God's image. We are not worthless beings meant to power through life, sacrificing our health for the sake of the good news.
As I sat, head bowed, unable to come to terms with my body’s limits, I felt the weight of my humanness. What did it mean to live on mission with God without sacrificing myself in the process?
Romans 12:1 states, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
After a long gospel recap, Paul issues this appeal to believers in the early Roman church. Present your bodies as living sacrifices. The Greek word used here for bodies, sōma, refers to the entire person.
Paul calls the early church to give their entire person to Christ in ongoing gratitude and worship.
While the Israelites in the Old Testament were called to bring offerings and sacrifices before God to cover their sins, Jesus paid the price for our sins. Jesus has already become the sacrifice on our behalf.
As believers, we now get to practice receiving God’s love for us and giving it back to Him in worship. Becoming a living sacrifice (throughout our entire being) requires us to care for our bodies like they are not our own but His.
Self-care is not a selfish act, prioritizing our needs above others.
Biblical self-care is seeing our body in light of its purpose and caring for it to become a more Christ-like vessel for His glory and our good.
As believers, Jesus dwells with us through the power and mystery of the Holy Spirit. John 14:23 reveals Jesus’s promise to live this out.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
Jesus has come to make his home with us. The Holy Spirit dwells in our bodies. If God cares so much that He would come to live within us, shouldn’t we care for the place where He resides?
Self-care isn’t a reward for an achievement we’ve made or something we’ve accomplished. (More on that next week). Biblical self-care is caring for our bodies because God does. It’s rewriting the narrative to care for ourselves because God is delighted to gift them to us and dwell within them.
Self-care can be a spiritual act of worship as we begin to see the vessel (body) the Lord has given us to do His work as something to care for, not something to push until it no longer functions as we want it to.
Back in my SUV, I opened my eyes and looked at myself in the rearview mirror. Tilted slightly to the right, I reached out to straighten it so I could see myself clearly. I was tired.
“Yes, I don’t want to admit it, but I think I am burnt out.”
The honest statement wasn’t just an audible admission; it was also an invitation to healing.
As we practice self-care, we get to soak in God’s love. We can lay down our striving and rest in his achievements. We can honor our bodies by giving them rest. We can learn to listen to what our bodies need to be healthy. We can say no to serving others, even when the opportunity seems excellent, because it’s not our best yes.
We can still find joy with Jesus without sacrificing our bodies, mind, or soul to get there.
We become the beloved by turning to Jesus to receive self-care from Him. His selfless love and care for us will never run out.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”
1 John 4:7–9
Questions to ask yourself this week:
Where do I feel the most exhausted in my weekly routine?
Are there any consistent areas of my life where I find myself striving?
Am I rewarding myself with self-care treats instead of caring for myself because God values my body?
Challenge:
Spend time with the Lord, asking him to reveal these answers. Ask him how he wants you to care for yourself. Ask him to remind you that you are his beloved.
A Prayer for the Striving Soul:
Lord,
Teach us to slow our pace and set our gaze upon you. You alone are worthy of our praise. Let us bring our cares and set them at your feet, trusting that you alone can hold all things. We praise you for being the Great Physician and the Good Shepherd who cares so intentionally for us.
Show us where we’ve created idols out of busyness and success. Help attune our bodies, souls, and minds to your ways. Grant us deeper wisdom and discernment where we should say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Remind us again that we have nothing to achieve before you, nothing to gain that you haven’t already freely given us.
Give us renewed energy to go where you’re leading. Teach us how to get away with you amidst our ordinary, chaotic lives. Thank you for your pursuit of us, even when we wander away. Restore our fire for you. Help us soak in the truth that we are your beloved.
Amen.