Sometimes, I take my laptop to a coffee shop and work from there. It’s nice to sip iced coffee, watch people, and listen to their conversations while I work. Recently, I heard a conversation between two friends that intrigued me but also troubled me. Both women were young moms who looked about 30 years old.
The two friends talked…and talked…and talked. It quickly became clear that they were obsessed with exercise. I couldn’t help but feel depressed as they described their workouts and their sore muscles. I secretly wanted to ask them, “Do your entire lives revolve around exercise?” Obviously, I held my tongue. It wasn’t my place to ask them that question. And frankly, I could ask my high school self the same one.
When an Interest Becomes an Obsession
James* (the guy I dated very briefly last year) had a similar obsession. But he was obsessed with health in general, not just exercise. What he deemed healthy and unhealthy affected what he thought, said, and did. He became most passionate when he was talking about vaccines.
Not his faith. Not his family. Not his friends. Not even yours truly. Vaccines.
I’m not saying vaccines aren’t important. And I’m not trying to criticize James or the two women in the coffee shop or anyone else who values health. It’s a priority for many people, including me. It’d be hypocritical for me to say you shouldn’t care about food, exercise, and other health-related things.
But there are more important things in life than health. Drinking herbal tea, running marathons, and avoiding carbs will not save you. Nor will they shield you from sickness, pain, and death. If you claim to follow Jesus but your mantra in life is “vaccines are evil” or “caffeine is evil” or “sugar is evil” (or something similar), you have the wrong mantra.
If James had simply been interested in health—rather than obsessed with it—I would’ve found that attractive. His obsession, however, was very unattractive. Honestly, I wish he’d had a more balanced approach.
Confession Time
I realize I’m taking a strong stance on this topic—but that’s because I know from personal experience how quickly an interest in health can become an obsession with it. If you’ve read my posts about eating disorders or my book Real Recovery, you know I struggled with anorexia for about two years. I wasn’t fat or overweight, but I genuinely believed I was. I hated how I looked and tried—successfully—to change it.
During high school, I fixated on calories, constantly thinking about how many I was consuming and burning. From the outside, it probably looked like I was just prioritizing my health. After all, I was paying attention to nutrition labels and workout routines. I simply wanted to lose a little weight and become a little thinner.
But over time, I lost too much weight and became too thin. In God’s kindness, He provided wonderful people to support me during my recovery journey. However, it was still an extremely difficult journey.
Ironically, prioritizing health—health in general, our own health, or others’ health—too highly isn’t healthy. And it isn’t biblical either.
Loving God and Loving People
And one of [the Pharisees], a lawyer, asked [Jesus] a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40 ESV)
I realize this passage is specifically about the greatest commandments (not priorities for followers of Jesus). However, I believe this passage and many others in Scripture provide clarity on what we need to prioritize in life. Loving God needs to come first, and loving others needs to come second.
The hard truth—which few (if any) health experts and health influencers will admit—is that health doesn’t last forever. We all experience sickness and pain. We all die. Unlike our souls, our bodies are temporary.
I encourage you to keep that hard truth in mind as you consider how highly to prioritize health. Feel free to limit your sugar, sign up for a gym membership, eat organic foods, buy supplements, and find a personal trainer—but not at the expense of your relationship with God or your relationships with others. Balance is a beautiful thing, friends.
*Name has been changed.
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