Does God care about “self-care”?

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Does God care about “self-care”?

Sometimes we lie to ourselves that God only cares about the holy stuff. We think that if we need to take care of our human needs by resting and relaxing, then God barely tolerates that—it’s something we do on our time. That idea doesn’t come from the Bible!

The Bible shows me a God who cares about the WHOLE person—all that we are, our basic human needs. Jesus’ first miracle was changing water into wine. What part of “God wants you to relax and enjoy your life a little bit” are we not understanding here?

He washed His disciples’ feet because He cared for them. After He rose from the dead, He cooked breakfast for them on the beach. There’s layers of theological meaning there, but one of them is He loved them and wanted to make them breakfast! Whenever He raised someone else from the dead, He’d say something profoundly theological like this: “Get him something to eat!”

Sometimes you over-spiritualize your problems when what you need is a nap and a sandwich. I had an event recently where I talked about the importance of caring for ourselves. A young priest came up to me crying afterwards, saying, “Chris, my people think I have it all together, but there’s nothing left of me inside. And I need to take time to be inspired if I’m going to be able to inspire anybody.”

I’m going to say the same thing to you: are you taking time to rest, to watch a sunset, to work out, play a game, read a book? What are the things that make you feel rested, human, and alive? Those basic needs are a priority to God, because He loves you! They’ve got to be a priority to YOU, too!

“But the floors are dirty, the dishes need to be done!” No—you need to start prioritizing self-care like it’s urgent and important, because it is. Because as much as your kids need those dishes done or that floor clean, they need a happy mom and a smiling dad MORE.

You feel so selfless when you’re pouring yourself out. But when you don’t take any time to refuel, all you leave the people around you is the most burnt-out version of yourself. And there is NOTHING loving, noble, or holy about that.

So what makes you come to life? I need you to think about it, name it, and commit to it. God thinks you’re worth it! You need to think that you’re worth it, too.