Is self-care needed for my health?

Genesis 2:3God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

Deuteronomy 5:13-15“You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do. Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.”

Isaiah 58:13-14Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight.

Mark 2:27Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath was given as a command specifically to the people of Israel, but it was modeled for humanity from the very beginning of creation. All of us need rest, physically and mentally, from the many burdens of our daily lives. We need time for solitude, prayer, and uninterrupted study of God’s Word. We need time with our families and the community of believers. God wants us to take care of ourselves, and the Sabbath is a beautiful expression of that.

Psalm 23:1-4The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

Matthew 6:26“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? . . . So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

God knows and cares about our physical needs. He doesn’t tell us to seek him first because our needs are unimportant—he tells us to seek him first because when we do, he can guide and care for us more completely. It is good to work hard for God’s glory, but we do not serve a ruthless taskmaster. We serve the Good Shepherd. Let him lead you to food, drink, and rest when you need it.

Daniel 10:2-3When this vision came to me, I, Daniel, had been in mourning for three whole weeks. All that time I had eaten no rich food. No meat or wine crossed my lips, and I used no fragrant lotions until those three weeks had passed.

Joel 2:12That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

Acts 14:23Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

1 Corinthians 7:4-5The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer.

Fasting is a spiritual discipline practiced by believers since the beginning. Believers fast to mourn and to repent. We also fast in order to devote ourselves fully to prayer. Fasting builds self-control and puts our spiritual need for God above all else. We might fast from food or from other things, such as a husband and wife abstaining from sex for a time. In our modern day, fasting may involve abstaining from social media. There are different ways of fasting. In his old age, the prophet Daniel may have been too weak to fast from food completely, so he only fasted from meat and wine.

Fasting and self-neglect are very different. Fasting is an intentional period of exercise. It may strain and weaken us and it may be painful, but in the end, it makes us stronger. Self-neglect will also strain and weaken us, but it isn’t driven by a desire to grow. Instead, it’s often driven by fear, guilt, self-loathing, or apathy. Suffering for the sake of suffering isn’t spiritual, and God does not desire that for us.