Spiritual Principles are laws that God set in place to govern His creation. There are also Physical Laws, like the Law of Gravity. We all know what to expect from gravity and we all know the kinds of (bad) things that can happen when we don’t respect it, like falling down stairs or spilling a glass of milk.

Spiritual laws are much like physical laws in that if you ignore them or are ignorant of them, bad things can happen, both spiritually and physically. You may not see the results immediately, but eventually small things add up and create big things.

The Principle of Be Faithful in Small Things extends far, far beyond money. Jesus used money as an example because everyone understood it, but He was implicating every aspect of our lives.

Be Faithful to Your Cells: Smallest Building Blocks of Life

As a microbiologist, this principle is especially obvious to me because of my observations of cells. Cells are the basic unit of every living thing, yet we seldom consider our cells when we become sick. We may treat the entire body for symptoms, but ultimately, it is the single cell, that building block for all life, that needs to be strengthened.

If blood cells become run down (anemia), the whole body suffers fatigue. If cells proliferate unchecked (cancer) it affects the whole body. If bacterial cells or other microbes invade the body, they must be fought at the cellular level. You may take your nighttime cold medicine, but this does nothing to defeat the germs, and may actually hinder your own cells. It is your own cells that are designed to fight the battle, and to do so effectively, they must be strong and unhindered.

Cause and Effect

For example, if you eat more sugar than you should, those small amounts of extra calories may not be noticed right away, but after a time, your clothes won’t fit anymore, and it could even lead to more serious problems, like diabetes and immune dysfunction.

If you smoke, you may not notice immediate health effects, but after a while, you may become more susceptible to colds and flu. Over time, your immune system may become so depressed that you get cancer or some other chronic disease.

The list goes on and on of the small things that build up over time: breathing polluted air, eating too much, eating the wrong things, living with too much noise or stress or anxiety: all of these things affect you a little at a time at the cellular level until their accumulated effects manifest in a big way.

You may not notice the effect on your health until you are older, but constant assaults to your cells ultimately result in chronic conditions like arthritis, diabetes, MS, neurological disorders, fatigue, cancer, heart attack, high blood pressure, and the like.

Whose Responsibility, Ultimately?

It is amazing to me that we treat our smallest units so poorly, considering that the health and well-being of the entire body is dependent on the health of the cells of the body. Just think of all the assaults we make to our cells: refined sugar, overcooked food, cigarettes, pollution, drugs, artificial sweeteners, mercury-laced fillings in our teeth, alcoholic beverages, aluminum-laced foods and skin care products, soda-pop.

It is as true today as it was in the time of Jesus when he healed the woman with an issue of blood:

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse… Matthew 5:25-26

In other words, you can spend all your money and yet the doctors cannot undo what you have done to yourself by not treating your cells well.

Doctors may be happy to help you decide what you have (which you usually already know, by the way), and help you temporarily feel better (a symptomatic fix at best), but they have no personal investment in your overall health. You are the one who must live inside of your skin, and live with whatever is done to you, be it surgical removal of parts or lifelong drugs.

Rather than giving responsibility for your health and well-being to a doctor or insurance company or government, try being accountable to what God has placed within you: search out the knowledge you need to be faithful in the little things.

Removing the Obstacles

In addition, many of the ways that we assault our bodies have to do with addictive behaviors: overeating, sweets, alcohol, drugs, video games, overwork. Addictive behaviors insert themselves between us and the voice and guidance of God. It is very difficult to do what you know is right when you are addicted to something.

You can see this illustrated with our children: they have difficulty obeying the voice of their parents when they are addicted to texting or TV or sex or peer approval. The same difficulty exists between God and His children when they are addicted to anything but God, Himself.

Be Faithful in the Little Things

Big changes come in small steps.

The Creator’s handbook, the Bible, along with guidance from the Holy Spirit and personal study can help you to design a plan to change the direction your current lifestyle is taking you. With a good plan, you can take the small steps to eliminate the addictive foods, drugs and behaviors in your life.

There is a lot of good information out there, along with misinformation. It is ultimately your responsibility to ferret out the real truth and discern the motivations that give rise to misinformation (inadvertent lies) and disinformation (purposeful lies) about health and lifestyle questions. Then make an outline, or design, for what you want to achieve in your life and make some changes. With God’s help, you can do it.

Blessings Your Way,
Chandra Lynne