The church’s health starts in your heart.
We say we want stronger churches, but how often do we pause and ask if we ourselves are strong? Not just spiritually—but emotionally, mentally, and relationally. The truth is, churches aren’t buildings. They’re people. And a church can’t be healthy if the people in it are broken, bitter, burned out, or pretending to be okay when they’re not.
I’ve been guilty of showing up every Sunday looking the part, doing my role, and saying “I’m blessed” while quietly crumbling inside. That’s not health. That’s survival. And survival-mode leaders and saints can’t lead healing movements. We have to stop pouring from an empty place and calling it service.
Let me say this plainly: the church’s health starts in your heart. If your heart is hardened, heavy, or hurt—and you keep ignoring it because you think “the work must go on”—you’re building a ministry on a cracked foundation. And sooner or later, even if people don’t see it, you feel it.
It’s time we normalize personal wholeness as a requirement, not a reward. It’s not selfish to rest. It’s not weak to go to counseling. It’s not unspiritual to set boundaries or take a step back so you can heal. It’s necessary.
We pray for revival, but revival starts with repentance. Not just for sin, but for neglect. We’ve neglected ourselves in the name of serving God. We’ve used our gifts to avoid our grief. We’ve made burnout look like spiritual warfare when in fact—it was just us not taking care of our own souls.
If the church is the body, then you’re a vital organ. And when you stop functioning well, the whole body suffers. So don’t ignore your need for rest. Don’t downplay your need for restoration. The church doesn’t need more performers. It needs healed people who can minister from a place of truth and compassion, not pain and pretense.
God is not asking you to break yourself for the church. He already sent His Son for that.
Take care of your heart. The church’s health depends on it.
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