5 Essential Areas of Health for Raising Godly Children: A Complete Guide

August 18, 2025

As Christian parents, teachers, and grandparents, we are called to nurture children in all aspects of their development. When we think of health, physical health comes to mind first. But a wholistic view of the person includes five areas of health. In addition to physical, there’s mental health, emotional health, social health and spiritual health. All aspects of health inform the others, either supporting or tearing down.

How to Teach Kids About Holistic Health

Helping children develop in all five areas of health requires intentionality and understanding. Here’s how to approach each area from a biblical perspective as you work toward raising godly children who are healthy in every way.

1. Physical Health: The Temple of the Holy Spirit

Our physical body is the most demanding, crying out for food, rest, attention to injuries or illness, and even demanding exercise and a breath of fresh air. Taking care of the physical needs of children is demanding, especially because physical safety is always a concern. So, we probably have the least difficulty paying attention to this area of health, but it’s important since nutrition, rest, and exercise affect other aspects of health.

Practical Ways to Teach Kids About Physical Health:

• Explain that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• Establish healthy routines for sleep, nutrition, and activity
• Model good stewardship of your own physical health
• Teach age-appropriate responsibility for personal hygiene and self-care
• Use physical activity as family bonding time

2. Mental Health: Taking Every Thought Captive

Then, we’re always teaching children, so thinking of their intellectual growth, but not necessarily their mental health, which is largely dependent on the thought life. That is harder to see and evaluate. It’s important that we watch out for negative thinking patterns and teach children to think God’s thoughts about themselves and life. A person is not just a tool in God’s toolbox or an object to worship Him. The child should know God values him as a unique person, created in God’s image whom God wants to have a real relationship with.

Practical Ways to Teach Kids About Mental Health:

• Help children identify and challenge negative thoughts
• Teach them to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• Provide biblical affirmations they can memorize and repeat
• Model healthy thought patterns through your own speech
• Encourage questions and thoughtful exploration of faith
• Develop their critical thinking skills alongside biblical literacy

3. Social Health: Loving Your Neighbor

Social health is positive relationships and the ability to adapt and act appropriately in social situations. It involves communication skills, empathy, and accountability. We often teach our children what to do, and what not to do, but sometimes not the why. In the big picture, it’s really all about helping others feel comfortable. If a child is empathetic and more concerned about whether a friend appears lonely or is having a hard time, he will forget whether he himself is feeling awkward and just reach out, resulting in both of them doing better. Honoring others with his speech – the volume, pace, and content, helps relationships. Being accountable to practice good social habits (such as being on time) leads to good social health.

Practical Ways to Teach Kids About Social Health:

• Role-play different social scenarios and appropriate responses
• Discuss biblical examples of positive relationships (David and Jonathan, Ruth and Naomi)
• Practice active listening skills and taking turns speaking
• Teach conflict resolution from a biblical perspective
• Encourage service to others as a way to develop empathy
• Create opportunities for social interaction with peers and people of different ages

4. Emotional Health: A Heart After God’s Own

Emotional health is finally being recognized even by secularists as important to other aspects of health, even contributing to better performance in school. Research from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education found that students who practice religion on a regular basis have a higher GPA even after taking many other factors into consideration. We know that mature faith in God (not faith in ourselves or faith in faith itself), has a positive effect on all aspects of health because it informs our decisions about what we think, how we interact with others, how we view our body as God’s temple, and how we process our emotions.

Because most of us work hard enough to keep our bodies in a constant state of fatigue, we automatically look for shortcuts in childrearing. It’s easier to take care of the physical, intellectual, social and perhaps even the spiritual, but it takes extra involvement to care for the emotional. Sometimes we think that if we really pump the spiritual instruction, the emotional will take care of itself and God will do all the nurturing that He put us there to do.

Some say that today, we’re putting too much emphasis on the “touchy feely” and correct doctrine will take care of emotions. That’s true to some extent. We have to believe truth in order to bring our feelings in line. But at the same time, it is our emotions and will that respond to the Holy Spirit. Response to God’s love is an emotional response. In conjunction, the emotions and will answer the call of God to surrender one’s life. And let’s not forget that we’re created in God’s image and He has emotions. He’s emoting all through the Bible. He encourages His people to express honest laments that seem incorrect and disrespectful.

Practical Ways to Teach Kids About Emotional Health:

• Help children name and express their emotions appropriately
• Share stories from the Bible where people expressed emotions (Jesus weeping, David’s psalms)
• Validate their feelings while guiding them toward healthy expressions
• Teach self-regulation techniques like deep breathing and prayer
• Model healthy emotional responses in your own life
• Create safe spaces for sharing feelings without judgment

5. Spiritual Health: Growing in Faith and Grace

Spiritual health is the foundation that supports all other aspects of a child’s development. As Christian parents and teachers, nurturing a child’s relationship with God should be our highest priority in raising godly children.

Practical Ways to Teach Kids About Spiritual Health:

• Establish regular family devotion times
• Encourage personal prayer habits
• Help children develop their own relationship with God beyond just following rules
• Teach Scripture memorization in context and with understanding
• Model authentic faith through your own walk with God
• Answer difficult questions honestly and age-appropriately
• Connect spiritual truths to everyday situations they encounter

Frequently Asked Questions About Children’s Health Development

Q: How can I help my child who seems to struggle emotionally? A: First, pray for wisdom. Create safe spaces for them to express feelings, listen without immediately jumping to solutions, and consider whether they might benefit from speaking with a trusted pastor or Christian counselor who specializes in children’s emotional health.

Q: Is it normal for children to question their faith? A: Yes, questions are a normal and healthy part of developing a personal faith. Rather than shutting down questions, welcome them as opportunities to explore God’s truth together. Help them see that even biblical figures like Thomas had questions.

Q: How can I teach my child about spiritual health when they’re very young? A: Start with simple concepts like “God loves you,” “God made everything,” and “we can talk to God anytime.” Use everyday moments to point to God’s character. Young children learn through repetition, stories, and experiencing God’s love through your care.

Conclusion: The Whole Child Approach

All aspects of health inform the others, either supporting or tearing down. If we are ill in any one of them, every other aspect of health suffers. God gave us the responsibility to nurture every aspect of children. It’s a big job. Don’t let preoccupations take you away from all five of their needs.

As you focus on raising godly children, remember that addressing all five areas of health creates a strong foundation for a lifetime of faith and wholeness. By nurturing the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of a child’s development, you’re helping them become the person God created them to be.

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