I like to be healthy. I’m sure you like to be healthy as well. 

When we hear the word ‘health,’ the first thing many of us think about is physical health. A cold or a broken bone disrupts our physical health. 

There is also mental health. Fortunately, more people are talking about mental well-being, and some of the stigma is decreasing—not all, but we are certainly moving in the right direction. 

But there is also “inner health.” Perhaps we could think of this as soul health. It begins by repentance and faith, and by being in a relationship with God. It is coming to appreciate and live-out the peace of Christ. It is building relationships and a lifestyle which reflect this inner peace.

I recently came across an insight by the ever-wise C.S. Lewis. He was an atheist who became a Christian. He was also a world-renowned literary critic. He was speaking about worship and praise. In speaking about the psalms he said that praise is “inner health made audible.”*

It makes total, poetic sense. When we praise and worship God we are audibly expressing the peace we experience because of Christ. And we are doing it to the glory of God.

I doubt that David ever used the phrase “inner health.” But Psalm 103 definitely makes the connection between what is going on inside of us and our worship: “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits…” (verses 1-2).

This Sunday when you worship with the body of Christ, make audible the inner wholeness you have in Christ.

Appreciate it. Express it. And live it.

Let’s value our health—physical, mental AND spiritual. “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.”

---

Notes:

–Sermon: “Stabilizers for the Coming Storm.” November 5, 2023. Click here.

–The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on November 13, 2023.

–*C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms (San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1964), 94.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.