What is the relationship between the body and the spirit? Many of our greatest successes (and struggles) are rooted in how we understand the body|spirit connection. This week in our BE WELL series, we’ll look one of Jesus’ most celebrated miracles – raising his friend Lazarus from the dead. We’ll see what this event has to say to us about God’s loving plan for the intersection between our physical, mental, and spiritual health!

Groups Discussion Guide

To view the Leader Guide for this week, click here.

To view a .docx version of this guide, click here.

Introduction

Last week we talked about paying attention to our wellness as it relates to our food and how food should help us worship, show gratitude to, and remember God and his relationship with us. This should point us to seek nourishment from Jesus and his teachings.  

Take a few minutes to ask how everyone is doing and how they have been seeking God in the way they view and interact with food over the past week.  

After your time of connecting, begin your meeting with prayer.  

Key Verse for the Week

*Read this verse, then encourage the practice of memorization through the week. 

Isaiah 64:8 

“And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.” 

**When practiced consistently, memorizing Bible verses can be an important spiritual practice that centers your mind around the truth that God has given us.

Connect   

• What do you think of when you hear the word “wholeness”? What does wholeness mean? 
  • How often do you feel like wholeness is present in your life? What is the main reason you do or do not feel this way? 
• How necessary do you think having a healthy connection between our emotions, our mind, and our body is? How often do you feel misaligned when it comes to your mind and body?  
  • What do you do to address this misalignment? 

Opening Thought  

Our culture is great at trying to emphasize good emotional, mental, and physical wellness for people. The ways in which these things are encouraged can at times be off-balanced with the spiritual life. This can sometimes cause a sense of separation. Jesus invites us to integrate a relationship with him for true wholeness when pursuing good wellness in our lives.  

This leads us to our big idea for this week:  

Big idea for the week
We can live in the truth that Jesus loves our mind + body  

Unpack 

Go around your group and have someone read each of the following verses, then discuss the connected questions. 

Read  

Genesis 1:27 

Ephesians 2:10 

Unpack 

• How do you view yourself?
  • How often is this view negative?
  • How often do you view yourself as a being with worth and purpose? 
• What is an image? What do you think being made in God’s image means?  
• Why is it important that we remember we are created to reflect the good works of God?  

Read 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 

1 Thessalonians 5:23 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

Unpack 

• Based on these verses, how do you think you can you train yourself to be like Jesus? How does this relate to your mind and body?  
• How do these verses apply to the way you think about your mental and physcial health?  

Read 

The next section we will read is a longer section so feel free to split it between readers. This section is the Missionary/Apostle Paul speaking to the people within the church of the city of Colossae (a city in modern-day Turkey). This section is Paul talking about what the practical realities of living a daily life with Christ should be for those who follow Jesus’ teachings. Pay attention to the way he calls his audience to act both mentally and physically:  

Read  

Colossians 3:1-10  

Unpack 

• In verse 5 it says: “put to death sinful, earthly things”. Sin is anything you do, say, or think that places our hearts in a place that is separated from God.  
  • How does separating yourself from God affect a person’s emotional, mental, and physical wellness? Why do you think the Apostle Paul emphasized this? 
• Based on these verses, what part of living a new life of wholeness in Jesus do you think is the most difficult to practice? Which part is the most exciting? 
• Verse 4 in the section talks about us sharing in Jesus’ glory as we believe and live out our faith according to his teachings. How could us practicing wholeness bring glory to God? 
• How can living a life dedicated to prayer and connection with Jesus help your physical and mental wellness flourish? 

Apply 

Based on the verses we just read, there are some things that we can do in response. Take a moment to discuss these questions as a group to decide what your personal action steps for the week can be: 

• How will you invite Jesus into your emotional and mental health this week? 
• How will you choose to give God glory by taking care of your mind and body this week?  
• How will your group choose to help each other achieve these goals? 

Closing 

Read the first section with your group, then move to the Prayer and Verses section: 

When we invite Jesus into our emotional, mental, and physical health, we can find true wellness in these areas. Our spiritual relationship with Jesus speaks into each of these areas, and to follow Jesus well, we can ask God to give us a wholistic connection between these areas. This is one more way we find lasting wellness in our lives when it comes to our bodies, minds, and emotions. Let’s do this together with Jesus being our guide and foundation! 

Prayer and Verses 

Ask for prayer requests and conclude your time with prayer then share the Key Verse for the Week and Daily Devotional Verses with the group. 

Daily Devotional Verses  

Use the S.O.A.P. method to reflect on the verses below. 

Scripture: Read the verses several times. Reading out loud can be helpful as well. 
Observation: What can you see about the scripture you read? 
Application: What is God wanting you to believe, do, or feel, based on what you have read? 
Prayer: This is a chance to talk to God about what you have read and ask him for help in living out what you’ve learned. 

Day 1: Psalm 139:13 

Day 2: Psalm 139:14 

Day 3: Psalm 139:15 

Day 4: 1 Corinthians 3:16 

Day 5: Hebrews 4:16 

Day 6: Romans 12:2 

Key Verse for the Week  

Isaiah 64:8 

“And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.”