The A to Z Guide to Healthier Living by David B. D.Min Biebel & James E. Dill & and Bobbie Dill

Author:David B. D.Min Biebel & James E. Dill & and Bobbie Dill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL012000, HEA010000, SEL005000, Longevity, good health
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

Like a refreshing oasis in the desert of loneliness, isolation, pain, struggle, and rejection that life can be sometimes, love nourishes health and happiness. It is vital to human well-being to love, and to be loved in return. As George Sand said, “There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.”

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Love God without Being Religious

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.

G. K. Chesterton

Building a stronger love relationship with God is similar to strengthening our earthly relationships: it takes time and commitment. But this is where so many of us fail. We make the same mistake that we make with our earthly relationships—we begin with a program! Mom wants to deepen her relationship with her preschooler so she enrolls them both in gymnastics. The husband desires to fall in love with his wife all over again so he sets up a movie date every Friday. Two sisters want to reconnect, so they join a dance class. Although these activities are positive . . . they are just activities. They may bring the people close in proximity and they may be fun, but they will not necessarily be “soul touching.”

Soul touching is what happens when two people share their hopes, their disappointments, their joys, and their fears. It requires a willingness to become vulnerable. Each person must risk being known and perhaps ridiculed, or worse, rejected. So many people hide their real selves, and as a result their relationships remain more or less superficial. Is it any wonder that they may try to do the same in their relationship with God and end up with a similar result?

Researchers in the field of neurology have discovered that feelings are generated in certain parts of the right side of the brain and nonemotional actions stem from the brain’s left side. Using the technology of the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scientists have identified specific regions of the brain that are very active during empathetic and compassionate emotional experiences. For example, when a new mother looks at a picture of her baby, a certain part of her brain becomes highly active, but not when she looks at pictures of other babies. “This care and connection part of the brain shows a profound state of joy and delight that comes from relating to others. This part of the brain does not respond when we perform so-called ‘dry’ actions, like writing a check, even for a good cause, or performing a service out of duty,” explains Dr. Stephen G. Post.[183]

It is so easy to get caught up in doing rather than being, partially because there are so many good things we can do as followers of Jesus. We have wonderful churches with Bible studies of every type. We can join the choir, be on a committee, teach Sunday school, organize programs, do visitation. Doing these things is sometimes motivated by guilt or a sense of obligation aimed at earning or being worthy of God’s love. However, if they

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