Biblical Self-Care
by Derrick Puckett
Being a pastor or church planter can be one of the most time-consuming, heart-wrenching, and difficult endeavors someone can take on. At the same time, it can be one of the most winsome and fulfilling endeavors. And all of these qualities can be highly problematic if pastors don’t take time to reflect on their own health. As a pastor takes care of others, the first thing to be thrown out the window is usually care for their own self. This is why many pastors find themselves depressed, overweight, harboring secret addictions, or all over the internet for some type of failure. Biblical self-care helps us avoid these paths.
However, self-care has been both highly overvalued and undervalued in American society. Many times, we swing the pendulum too far left or too far right — some over-prioritize caring for themselves and end up ignoring the needs of others. Some prioritize caring for others so much that it ends up harming themselves, their family, and their relationships. Some Christians who grew up in a home where it was all about giving themselves away feel uncomfortable talking about self-care. Others light up (perhaps too much) at the thought of self-love. Sadly, Christianity has not navigated this issue well.
Regardless of what we think of it, a biblical self-care grounded in the gospel is a necessity for pastors living a life of ministry. For example, I am the Pastor of Renewal Church of Chicago, a growing, five-year-old, gospel-centered, multi-ethnic, disciple-making church in Chicago. I also serve as the President of the Chicago Partnership, an organization that focuses on planting and revitalizing healthy churches in Chicago. I am also married to my wife of nearly twelve years, and we have four girls and one boy ranging in ages from one to ten years old. With all of this going on, self-care and figuring out how to be intentional with my time are crucial.
What Should “Self-Care” Actually Mean?
Care for oneself is biblical; however, biblical self-care is much different than worldly self-care.
Clinically, self-care involves anything someone might do for the sake of their own physical or mental health, like eating well, exercising, or sleeping for eight hours a night. These things are great, but something is missing. None of them address a person’s heart or what may be causing their stress. They are all good habits, but we also tend to treat them as diversions. All too often, we reduce self-care to a diversion from reality rather than truly caring for ourselves.
How Should I Care for Myself?
Spending time with God and knowing God is the first and most important part of biblical self-care, but there has to be intentional effort on our part, too. Here are four passages of scripture that offer us instruction on how to look after ourselves:
1. Intentional Prayer
Mark 1:35 says,
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Here we see Jesus modeling a quiet time, by himself and praying. To properly care for oneself, it is important to spend time with God and pray. Whether you do so in the morning or not is up to you and depends on how you’re wired. I am better in the morning before my five kids are awake, but some people do better at night.
2. Spend Time Alone
Mark 6:31–32 says,
“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.”
In this scripture, we see that it is good to have time alone to rest. We need sleep. We need alone time. We need hobbies. This doesn’t mean we have a free pass to be a sloth (the Bible addresses that, also), but it’s okay to rest, eat, and be an introvert. Sometimes you need it. I am a pastor, I love people, and I love my church. I am always around people, but sometimes I don’t want to see or talk to anyone — and that’s okay.
3. Keep Up with Our Needs
Matthew 15:32 says:
“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
This is when Jesus feeds the 4,000 (20,000 counting women and children). He doesn’t preach to them, but he feeds them. Yes, it is a miracle, but he also simply gives them what they need at that time. Jesus sets a precedent for eating and making sure we take proper care of ourselves. He wants us to be healthy. He gives us what we need.
4. Take Care of Our Bodies
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says:
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
In its original context, this passage talks about sexual immorality, but I believe it applies on an even greater level to our worth in God. We are precious and hold great value, and we should take care of the temples we reside in — our bodies. This means we should eat well, work out, and watch what we do by avoiding things that may be physically or spiritually harmful. Our bodies don’t just belong to us.
Christians care for themselves not just for their own good, but so that they can care for others. Scripture says to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Many times, we either miss that last word “yourself” or overvalue it. We are to love ourselves in order to love others. Self-care is biblical, but only when done well while understanding how much Christ cared for us first. It is not just about loving oneself, but loving oneself so that we show off the glory of God to a world that needs to know him.
About the Author
Derrick Puckett is the Lead Pastor and Church Planter of Renewal Church of Chicago and serves as President of The Chicago Partnership. Derrick has a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a Masters of Divinity from the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Kaley, live in Chicago, where they have four beautiful daughters and a son.
