Humility and Healing

 Humility and Healing

July 3, 2025

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NASB95) 

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make yourpaths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your body And refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 4:20-22 (NASB95) 

20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of yourheart. 22 For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.

The subject of last evening’s Bible study was “Humility and Confidence”. That is a hard subject to teach  because you can’t claim to be humble lest you loose your humility to pride! Anyway, the Bible attributes many benefits to the man who is humble. In Proverbs 3, the writer admonishes, “be not wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord… It will be healing to your body…”. I had never associated humility with healing before, but it makes sense that walking humbly before your God and living in the fear of the Lord would lead to a healthy life. The proverbs repeatedly warn against the dangers of pride and arrogance. So it stands to reason that if pride leads to difficulties and problems in your body, that the opposite could lead to good health. 

The Old Testament law is full of instructions of what to eat and what not to eat. To the arrogant one, these seem to be senseless restrictions, but when you look at the dietary laws in the light of modern medical science, many of the prohibited items are indeed unhealthy. This was particularly true in ancient times before modern methods of sanitation and medicine were available. I’m not saying that eating kosher is a requirement for a Christian, but I do think that you will be healthier if you stick to the foods allowed by the Torah. (Except for bacon of course. No southern man can live without bacon!) But seriously, walking humbly and giving attention to the Word of the Lord will lead to health and healing. When I was a child, they used to put it to me in the saying, “Don’t drink or smoke or chew, or run with those who do.” The boys would make fun of the old ladies that quoted this to us, but there is some wisdom there. Staying away from the things that the Lord says are harmful will lead to a healthy and happy life, despite what the popular crowd says. They encourage all sorts of debauchery which sounds fun to a young man, but which will lead to all sorts of disease and difficulties in the end.

Bottom line, living humbly and walking in the fear of the Lord, leads to the benefit of good health and long life according to the Proverbs.