Thoughts and the Body

The thoughts we harbour affect our bodies in significant ways. Depending on the nature of the thoughts, it could promote our health or affect our health in negative ways which manifests in diseases or maladies of some form. 

“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.”   –Charles Swindoll

There is a Chinese proverb that says “That the birds of worry fly above your head, this you cannot change. But that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.” Indeed we may not have control over things that will come our way that may cause us to worry, have anxiety and despair. However, we can prevent these kinds of thoughts from building nests, or dominating our minds. 

It is clear from medical research that thoughts affect our bodies. Thoughts may cause our bodies to react in a healthy way or in an unhealthy way. Negative thoughts sustained for a long time may cause stress within our bodies  which then manifests as various kinds of diseases. 

An article on Webmd.com How Worrying Affects the Body by Debra Fulghum Bruce says “Chronic worry and emotional stress can trigger a host of health problems. The problem occurs when fight or flight is triggered daily by excessive worrying and anxiety. The fight or flight response causes the body’s sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol. These hormones can boost blood sugar levels and triglycerides (blood fats) that can be used by the body for fuel...When the excessive fuel in the blood isn’t used for physical activities, the chronic anxiety and outpouring of stress hormones can have serious physical consequences, including: suppression of the immune system, digestive disorders, heart attack...Although these effects are a response to stress, stress is simply the trigger. Whether or not you become ill depends on how you handle stress. Physical responses to stress involve your immune system, your heart and blood vessels, and how certain glands in your body secrete hormones. These hormones help to regulate various functions in your body, such as brain function and nerve impulses.

All of these systems interact and are profoundly influenced by your coping style and your psychological state. It isn’t the stress that makes you ill. Rather, it’s the effect responses such as excessive worrying and anxiety have on these various interacting systems that can bring on the physical illness. There are things you can do, though, including lifestyle changes, to alter the way you respond.”

The Scriptures caution us not to dwell on thoughts that are limiting such as worries, anxiety and fear. Jesus uses the words that such thoughts that are within us and which we talk about make us unclean as opposed to food which at that time some kinds of food was considered to make someone unclean once they eat it.  

Jesus also cautions us from worrying about everyday life. He asserts that worrying does not add a single moment to your life. In fact if we go by what scientists say, it actually reduces the length of our life. Elsewhere in the book of James 1:2, we are encouraged that when troubles of any kind come our way, we should consider it an opportunity for great joy. For we know that when our faith is tested, our endurance has a chance to grow. So we should let it grow, for when our endurance is fully developed, we will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

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