Biblical Mental health

Mental health awareness is quite a common topic. We have an 'awareness' week. People are still learning and understanding about how mental health affects people. People often still face stigma when going through difficult mental health challenges and find it hard to be open about them due to an unpredictable reception from any potential hearers.

I love the Bible. The Bible, God's word, is not remotely shy about mental health. I was reading this morning about David talking to his own soul and asking why it was feeling down (my paraphrase). It is not that uncommon. In scripture we find people dealing with deep intense emotion. Jesus himself was recorded as sweating blood when he faced the impending moment of his capture and the painful completion of his mission. Paul even talked of despairing of life itself when under such strain. If you want mental health awareness, read the Bible.

Yet in the church, depending on the culture of the church, mental health can be such a tense topic. There is still so much pressure on people to feel a certain way to appear Christian enough and strong in the faith. Sometimes Christians are shy when it comes to admitting faults, struggles and temptations which, by and large, involve a mental battle of some sort. Sometimes, some Christians reject any association with the world of psychology and counselling so avoid mental health because of the association, even though the Bible is full of such issues.

But lets keep it simple. Mental: meaning something to do with what goes on in your mind. Health: well, health is to do with the state of one's health. So mental health is the state of whether one's mind is operating in a healthy way and to what extent at any given moment or season of one's life. Our minds were created by God plus what is and is not healthy were part of his wise creation.

There, that wasn't too heretical to grasp. So, what about scripture? Well, I've already mentioned that mental health is in one way shape or form addressed extensively in scripture. Despair, hopelessness, joy, temptations, stress, pride, lies, deceit, peace, issues of the heart, love, romance, worry, anxiety and much more. These are all there multiple times. The Bible offers challenges, examples, failures and successes, resources, truths and tools to help us engage with what we call mental health issues.

Take lies as an example. If you believe a lie, you will live and react according to the lie. Think about Eve in Eden. She believed the deception, and lived according to it. The Bible speaks of the Devil being the Father of lies. How does Jesus challenge lies? He lives the truth, is the truth, teaches the truth, sometimes gently at other times very bluntly. In fact, a lot of mental health issues are influenced by lies and false perceptions. The answer? Jesus (don't worry, I know easier said than done). The point is, scripture addresses lies openly and honestly. It also offers various methods and tools to help overcome their influence.

Lets briefly look at anxiety. This is one of the most common forms of mental health issues. Jesus states quite clearly to not worry about the basics of life. Scripture, in 1 Peter 5:6-7 talks of giving anxieties to God. Paul addresses the same issue in Philippians 4. Even the parable of the sower in Luke 8 talks of the weeds which choke the effectiveness of God's word through...life's worries. The bible is very open about anxiety and the power it has to stunt growth and life. And let's not forget, anxiety is closly related to fear, which, again, is addressed extensively. If the Bible is that open about it, the church needs to be as well. That's means me and you. We are the church after-all.

The final area of mental health which I will briefly touch on is spiritual warfare. The Bible, again, is very open about spiritual influences. I have already mentioned the Devil being referred to as a liar. His other name is Satan, which means accuser. He accuses us of sin, not in a convicting 'lets grow through this' kind of way, but a 'you are a complete failure' hopelessness inducing kind of way. We are warned of his schemes, his opposition to the Kingdom of God and his methods such as lies and deception. The Devil's influence can affect your mental health-when you listen to his lies.

As you can see, a very brief blog on mental health addresses how significant mental health is to God, and how much it comes up in scripture. The church needs to be the forerunners of mental health issues. So often Christians rely on outside help because we, in the church, do not address the issues as much as scripture does. So lets be open, lets engage in mental health and become forerunners of being open about mental health because God's word addresses it openly, without shame or fear but learn to draw from God's strength and power to over come issues so that we will grow in having the mind of Christ.