BY ALBAN BACCHUS
"Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you
and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is" (3 John 2).*
HAT A FRIEND! I AM DEEPLY touched that you are genuinely interested
in the wellness of my entire being. I am inspired to do more because you have
expressed confidence in me. I will continue to pay attention to maintaining
the wellness of my soul, and use that as the wellspring that nurtures the health
of my body."
The apostle John wrote his third letter to Gaius, an elder in
one of the early Christian churches. Might Gaius have expressed the above thoughts
when he saw John "face to face" (verse 14)? And what course of action
might he have taken as a result of John's encouraging words?
Gaius may have allowed the work of the church to consume so
much of his attention and energy that he had neglected the health of his body.
So, as an out-of-shape elder in the church, John's words to him were the catalyst
for transformation. He is stirred to examine his lifestyle. He is determined
and ready to make the changes necessary to maintain his physical health. He
wants to be able to live longer and do more for the church. This is his life.
This is his purpose for living--to build up the church and spread the wonderful
news about Christ. He wants to live a more balanced life and to be healthy in
body and soul.
As his friend and mentor expresses concern for his health, Gaius
hits upon the key to his path of transformation--the Gaius principle:
How the Gaius Principle Works
"Since my soul1 is well, I can use the principles
of health of the soul to sustain motivation and inspiration to maintain health
of the body."
Application 1: Just as the soul must be supplied with
spiritual water for its health, the body needs physical water to carry on the
chemistry of life and maintain health.
Water for the Soul: Jesus is the Living Water
Belief in Christ is spiritual water, the medium in which all "soul chemistry"
takes place. Without daily intake of the Living Water, the soul may dehydrate
and wither (John 4:10; John 7:37, 38).
Water for the Body 
Physical or physiologic water is the medium in which all body chemistry takes
place. The human body is between 55-65 percent water depending on the proportion
of fat to muscle. We lose about two and one-half liters of water each day. This
is why the health recommendation is to drink 8 eight-ounce glasses of liquids
each day. (Sixty-four ounces of water equals two liters. The other half a liter
is supplied in the food we eat.) This will keep the chemistry of the body working
efficiently.
Desired Positive Health Behavior
Drink 8 eight-ounce glasses of liquids (mostly water) each day.
Recommended Daily Habit
The first thing that should enter the body each morning is a glass of pure water.
Connect this habit with starting each day in a brief meditation on Christ, the
Living Water. See whether you become more conscious of your intake of physical
water as your mind dwells on spiritual water throughout the day.
Application 2: Just as the soul needs spiritual nutrients
for its sustenance, the body needs nutrients from food to carry on the chemistry
of life.
Nutrients for the Soul: Jesus Is the Bread of Life
Belief in Christ is the raw material for soul chemistry. "I am the bread
of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe
in me will never thirst" (John 6:35). A balanced spiritual diet is essential
to keep the soul in good health.
Nutrients for the Body
Nutrients from food are the raw material for body chemistry. The healthiest
foods come from complex carbohydrates, good fats from plant sources, plant protein
around 50-60 grams per day, five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables,
along with vitamins and minerals.2
Desired Positive Health Behavior
Eat balanced meals each day to provide all the nutrients needed for a healthy
body. Use nutritional supplements as needed and recommended by your health practitioner,
especially when your body has special needs such as during a pregnancy.
Recommended Daily Habit
Christ's life as recorded in the gospels is the balanced meal for spiritual
health. Read a few verses each day. Along with the word of God, prayer, heart-softening
music, inspired writers, and storytellers feed your soul.
As you revel in the spiritual feasts each day, allow that to
remind you to make healthful choices in the food you select for the health of
your body.
Remember, the Gaius principle is that your soul is well and
you are now working on the health of the body. This means that you have been
getting the spiritual nutrients that contribute to health of the soul. Can the
conscious connection of spiritual food and physical food help to remind you
to choose the right foods for health of the body?
Application 3: Just as the soul needs spiritual oxygen
to draw energy from its food, so the body needs physical oxygen to extract energy
from its food.
Spiritual Oxygen: Christ's substitute on earth is the Holy Spirit, who has
been compared to the wind (John 3:8).
Spiritual oxygen is the presence of the Holy Spirit and the
ministry of the Spirit through prayer. This is the "breath of the soul."3
It is the Spirit who takes our prayers and translates them into the language
of heaven "with groanings that cannot be expressed in words" (Rom.
8:26). It is the ministry of the Spirit that illuminates and extracts power
from the Word of God--the food for the soul.
Oxygen for the Body
Oxygen is the key element in extracting energy from food. It is the final electron
acceptor in the major pathway of energy production in the body. As chemical
bonds in food molecules are broken to release energy, oxygen traps the free
hydrogen to form water. The body must have a constant supply of oxygen in order
to keep cells alive. Brain cells are extremely susceptible to lack of oxygen.
Death of brain cells starts after four to five minutes without oxygen.
Desired Positive Health Behavior
Breathe deeply of fresh air each day.
Recommended Daily Habit
For the health of your soul, spend some time in prayer each day. You may want
to connect your body's need for physical oxygen to that thought. When you think
of prayer as "the breath of the soul" and how you maintain health
of the soul by humble prayer, might that remind you of the need to get fresh
air as much as possible each day?
Application 4: Just as the spiritual DNA of the soul needs
protection from damage, the physical DNA needs protection from the damage caused
by free radicals.
Spiritual DNA and Protection From Free Radicals
Think of spiritual DNA as that which contains the genetic code for who you are
as a spiritual being. Two parts wrap around each other to form a spiritual double
helix (see illustration). The first part, the first strand in the double helix,
is the imprint of God's character into the human mind at Creation (Gen. 1:27).
The second strand of spiritual DNA is given at the new birth when God's law
is written on the heart and mind (Heb. 8:10).
Your soul is healthy when the spiritual genetic code operates
in you to produce the characteristics of your spiritual parent--God. The evidence
of this is that you produce the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5).
Now your soul is healthy because you have fed on God's Word,
receiving daily "antioxidant" protection for your spiritual DNA. There
might be special gems of Scripture that are specifically protective for you.
Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not
sin against you." Examples of free radicals are ideas, philosophies, and
thoughts that cause you to lose your confidence in God's imprint on you at Creation,
and that generate doubts about the operation of the New Covenant of freedom
in Christ in your daily life. The biggest free radical of them all is Satan!
He roams about seeking to devour and destroy. He is the originator of the biggest
cancer in the universe.
DNA in the Body Needs Protection From Free Radicals
Physical DNA is the molecule that carries the code for who you are physically.
It contains your genetic blueprint. Every physical characteristic and a lot
of your personality are coded in the DNA.
The DNA molecule is shaped like a double helix--two pieces of
ribbon twisted around each other, as shown in the illustration below.
Free radicals are unstable molecules produced during normal
metabolic reactions. They can damage physical DNA and start changes that may
lead to cancer.
Desired Positive Health Behavior
Pay attention to getting a daily supply of antioxidants in your diet. These
come from a variety of colors in plant food. "Eat a rainbow every day"
is the recommendation that you hear in many health classes. These plant-chemicals
protect physical DNA from damage by free radicals. A secondary source of antioxidants
is dietary supplements, which should be added because you may not be eating
sufficient fruits and vegetables to supply what is needed. However, this addition
should be made in consultation with a knowledgeable health-care professional,
not those who market the products.
Recommended Daily Habit
Your soul has remained healthy because of protection from the free radicals
that damage the spiritual DNA. The health habit that ensures this is to eat
five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day. As you eat various
colors of fruits and vegetables each day, connect that habit with the habit
of feeding on God's Word each day. Just as antioxidants protect physical DNA
from damage, so God's Word protects spiritual DNA from damage.
Helping Each Other
Dear friends, let's pray for one another's health--of body and soul.
Those of us, such as was Gaius, who are humbly secure in the
knowledge that our soul is healthy may use the principles that maintain health
of the soul to remind us of how to cultivate health of the body. And those of
us who are humbly secure in the current health of the body know that this is
not the most important health there is.
The apostle Paul helps us to put the right perspective on health
of body and soul. In his counsels to his protégé and friend, Timothy,
he said, "Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much
more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next"
(1 Tim. 4:8).
I think the apostle Paul and Gaius were very likely great friends.
_________________________
* Scripture references in this article are from the New Living
Translation.
_________________________
1 The word "soul" in this article is used to denote
the inner being of a person, and is consistent with the Seventh-day Adventist
understanding of the word (see Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . A Biblical
Exposition of 27 Fundamental Doctrines, pp. 81-85).
2 If you can't recall the details, do a Web-search of credible sites such as
www.adventist
healthcare.com and www.usda.gov. Or write the General Conference Health Ministries
Department for their recommended sources.
3 Ellen G. White, Messages to Young People (Nashville: Southern Pub.
Assn., 1930), p. 249.
_________________________
Alban Bacchus, Ph.D., is a member of the biology faculty at Columbia Union College and also serves as director of student activities and director of the
Center for Prevention and Lifestyle Support.
