Practice Your Faith
Practicing authentic faith is healthy. But not everything you may hear in church or a religious discussion group is health-enhancing, so you need to take it “with a great big grain of salt” or spiritual discernment. “The truth will set you free,” as Jesus said, and honoring God will bring “healing to your body and refreshment to your bones,” as Solomon said. But when what you hear increases your sense of guilt, judgment by humans, or abandonment or punishment by God, your risk of ill health, even death, might be increased.
A study of nearly 450 older hospitalized patients—most of them Christians—by Harold Koenig, M.D., and his Duke University colleagues found that feeling alienated from God, one’s religious community, or perceiving the Devil as the cause of one’s illness resulted in a 19 to 28 percent increased risk of dying during the subsequent two years. Evidently, the unresolved inner stress related to these religious convictions created a context for decline in health over time.
The practice of authentic, health-enhancing faith is not dependent on one’s denomination or membership in any religious group. It does not happen through walking the aisle in a religious service or by praying a prayer at the end of an evangelistic booklet. The life of faith is not achieved by adherence to a list of “dos and don’ts” imposed by any person or group. Instead the practice of authentic faith is, to put it very simply, the overflow of a love relationship with God that is established through trusting Christ as one’s personal Lord and Savior. This, therefore, is the first step toward a full and healthy life, because this relationship provides peace with God and peace in our hearts. As Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body....”
A love relationship with God also provides both the will and the ability to love and serve our fellow humans with whom we share a special sense of community in the church. The human love relationships we experience as a result encourage and empower us as we live our lives day-to-day, and further enhance our relationship with God, as the benefits go round and round.
The net result of nurturing your faith in both private and public settings will be that you simply will not be able to keep it to yourself. I don’t mean by this that all people with authentic faith become preachers, evangelists, or missionaries, only that true faith is other-directed. In other words, your concern for and involvement with others in a helping or redemptive sense will increase in a variety of ways as your faith grows. This, too, enhances your health, as we said in the chapter on helping others. Don’t worry. You don’t have to make this happen. It happens because the Spirit of God, who comes to reside within believers, is a powerful force for love, compassion, and concern, bringing refreshment to those in need. The way Jesus described it to the “woman at the well” was: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
Faith and your physical health
Many scientific studies have found a positive correlation between religious practices, especially church attendance, and better physical health. Here’s some information on this from a fact sheet prepared by Harold Koenig, M.D., on research related to faith, prayer, and health:
Religion and blood pressure
· 40% reduction in diastolic hypertension (high blood pressure) among those who both attend religious services weekly and prayer or read the Bible daily.
Religion and coronary artery disease mortality
· 20% reduction in mortality from coronary artery disease among religiously active men in
Religious involvement and cancer
· Persons who attended religious services weekly or more and who exercised regularly, didn’t smoke, and got 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, were 76% less likely to die of cancer during a 13 year follow-up.
Religious attendance and immune function
· Weekly attenders at religious services have a 49% lower likelihood of having high IL-6 levels (i.e., impaired immune function) (42% lower after controlling for age, sex, race, education, chronic illness, physical functioning).
· Attending religious services more than once/week associated with a 66% reduction in likelihood of having a high IL-6 level and 68% reduction in mortality.
Strong religious beliefs and surgery
· 14 times lower death rates for older adults during the first six months after undergoing open heart surgery among those with both high social support and high religious coping.
· Stronger religious beliefs associated with fewer complications and shorter hospital stays among patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
Need for health services
· Patients not affiliated with a religious denomination spent an average of 25 days at
· African-Americans who prayed, meditated and read the Bible a lot during hospitalization spend 5 days on average in long-term care settings (nursing homes) during the 10 months after hospital discharge, compared to nearly 50 days for those who prayed and read the Bible a small amount.
Religion, faith and longevity
· 46% reduction in death rates for weekly attenders at religious services compared to those attending less than weekly; 28% reduction after controlling for other risk factors.
· 7 year greater longevity for whites who attend religious services more than weekly compared to non-attenders; 14 year greater longevity for African-Americans.
It is possible that a primary reason that church attendance and better health appear linked is because active involvement in a faith community—as opposed to being “religious” or “spiritual” on your own or simply “believing” in one thing or another—has positive emotional, sociological, and spiritual benefits, and it often encourages a healthier lifestyle.
Faith and your psychological health
Psychological factors, especially long-term emotional stress, may negatively influence physical health by affecting the immune system, the body’s natural first defense against infection and other illness. This leaves you more susceptible to minor health problems such as colds or flu, and it could even in some cases influence the development of serious illnesses such as cancer or coronary heart disease. High levels of stress-related hormones, such as cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine can increase blood pressure, which may over time lead to damages in the arteries that supply blood to the heart and the brain, and even affect cholesterol deposits (plaque) in blood vessel walls. These changes can increase your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Faith helps to diminish emotional stress through providing inner peace, hope, and optimism. Your community of faith may help reduce your stress through social support during times of need, close friendships, and access to counseling from the ministerial staff.
Studies show that people who regularly attend worship service are significantly less likely to become depressed, and those with deep faith recover from depression more quickly. Faith also helps people cope better with major life events, combating pessimism or despair that can sometimes lead to ignoring one’s health, including the need for regular medical checkups.
People experiencing long-term emotional stress sometimes seek relief by cigarette smoking, alcohol or drug use, risky sexual behaviors, unhealthy eating habits or other activities that can add to and worsen health problems. One’s faith can counteract these temptations by providing alternative ways of coping with stress (prayer, talking things over with another church member) and also by observing religious teachings that help us to avoid behaviors that can negatively impact our health.
Overall, people of faith tend to experience a higher level of life satisfaction, which can affect the quality of life and may even influence their health in general.
Faith and your sociological health
Positive and constructive relationships—whether with family or friends—promote wellness. As God said before creating Eve to be Adam’s companion, “It is not good for a man [human] to be alone.”
Couples who share faith divorce less frequently because they are more likely to view their marriages as sacred, to change attitudes and behavior in order to prevent divorce, or to seek pastoral counseling when it is needed. Divorce has well-established negative results on health.
Social support from family and friends, including their “brothers and sisters” in the community of faith, can help combat the negative effects of stress, reducing the risk of depression, and speeding recovery from depression when it occurs. A strong network of family and friends can support good health habits such as a healthier diet, more exercise and better sleep. Sometimes this support is best accessed in a group setting.
Other types of faith-based support groups have greatly increased over the past several decades. The most effective groups focus on specific interests such as parenting, or needs shared by those who attend, including recovery from a variety of addictions, dealing with divorce, depression, cancer, chronic pain, eating disorders, disability, or the loss of a loved one to suicide or disease. There is no doubt that the compassion and understanding you can receive from your likeminded fellow strugglers during times of acute distress, or simply to carry on with living, is health-enhancing.
Social support may enhance the function of your immune system by reducing your perception of stress. The positive support of family and friends can reduce the risk of disease-inducing habits like overeating, cigarette smoking, and substance abuse. It has been estimated that the overall health-enhancing effects of good social support is equivalent to not smoking cigarettes.
A sense of aloneness or social isolation, by contrast, may adversely affect immune system function and increase susceptibility to illness or disease. Religious practices such as “shunning” or even less drastic forms of judgment or rejection aimed at those who violate “the rules” are likely to increase the offender’s stress and a sense of alienation, leaving him susceptible to unhealthy methods of coping that can produce illness over time.
Longevity
The book 70 Ways to Beat 70 creatively presents health-enhancing (therefore, longevity enhancing) practices that anyone wishing to live long and age gracefully can observe. Here is the table of contents, arranged alphabetically:
Introduction
1. Accept Your Mortality
2. Attend a Healthy Church
3. Avoid Fad Diets
4. Avoid Infections
5. Avoid the Debt Trap
6. Be Content
7. Be Kind to Your GI Tract
8. Be Thankful
9. Be Who You Really Are
10. Break Bread Together
11. Breathe Clean Air
12. Build Strong Bones
13. Create Your Legacy
14. Cry More
15. Dance—Or Learn To
16. Develop Resilience
17. Discover, Use, and Celebrate Your Talents
18. Dodge Cancer
19. Don’t Give In to Chronic Disease
20. Don’t Smoke or Hang Out with People Who Do
21. Don’t Worry, Since It Doesn’t Change Anything
22. Drink Lots of Clean Water
23. Eat Well, Be Well
24. Enjoy a Hobby
25. Enjoy Your Work
26. Feast on Fiber
27. Forgive Others
28. Forgive Yourself
29. Fulfill Your Purpose
30. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
31. Get and Keep Your Affairs in Order
32. Get Out There
33. Hang Loose or Stress Could Get You
34. Have at Least One Close Friend
35. Hold On to Hope
36. Keep Your Eye on Your Eyes
37. Keep Your Heart Smart
38. Keep Your Mind Sharp
39. Keep Your “Wow” Working
40. Know the Skinny on Fat
41. Laugh More
42. Lighten Up
43. Live in the Now
44. Love and Be Loved
45. Love God without Being Religious
46. Love Your Liver
47. Mind Your Mouth
48. Nurture Family Relationships
49. Nurture Something
50. Pay the Kindness Forward
51. Play More
52. Practice Generosity
53. Practice Safe Sex
54. Pray 24/7
55. Prevent Accidents
56. Remember Who’s in Charge of Your Health
57. Save Your Skin
58. Seek Solitude
59. Simplify Your Life
60. Stay Active
61. Stay Connected
62. Stay Creative
63. Supplement Wisely
64. Surround Sound Your Soul
65. Take a Little Wine?
66. Take a Nap
67. Take a Walk
68. Tune Your Immune
69. Value Yourself
70. Volunteer and You’ll Never Be Bored Again
Conclusion: What Are You Waiting For?
See the recommended resources section of this website to find out how to order your own autographed copy of any of the books listed here.
Also, watch for our forthcoming book (December 2009): 50 Ways to Have a Great Day.
