It’s kind of wild how “mental health” has been a growing topic in the last few years. The world’s definition is definitely different from God’s and I think it’s important that we understand that. We are in a battle, and Ephesians 6:12 is our guideline for that: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. There is good and evil, and both God and the devil like to whisper either truth or lies to us, the key is distinguishing the two. The very first step is understanding the gospel and surrendering our life to God-having relationship with Him. We can not learn someone’s voice if we don’t know them. In a crowd of twenty people, if my husband calls out my child’s name, my child will immediately look up, because they hear their Fathers’s voice, but if another child hears that name, they know not to look up, because it is not their father. In the same way, we need to get to know our Father, so that when He speaks, we know that it is Him, and not the devil.
It took me years to figure out, but when I finally did, not only did my mind become clearer, but it brought a lot of freedom, because I wouldn’t get stuck in the lies of the enemy. The world doesn’t realize that we have a ruthless enemy, and it teaches us to go to worldly things, like yoga which is supposed to “clear your mind”, whereas on the contrary, it’s inviting the demonic realm in. This is a pretty strong statement, but being a former hindu, I know for a fact and from experience, that it does the opposite of what the enemy makes it “appear” to do. Anyway, this is a whole other blog, but feel free to reach out about it if you have an open mind and want to learn more. There is so much importance in being healthy in the mind, and God always knew that as His word is full of scriptures about it. Here are just three of many scriptures about the mind in God’s word:
1) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)
2) You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)
3) Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4: 8-9)
There are promises of God that we can grab a hold of to become free in the area of our mind, but they do indeed come with conditions. The first and one of my favorites: Transformation. That we can actually be transformed in our lives, should we align our mind with the “good, acceptable and perfect will of God”. The second, “perfect peace”. Again, it comes with stipulations, a steadfast or devoted mind that trusts in God. And lastly, focusing on whatever is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy”. Where the condition is putting what we have learned from God into practice and not just knowing it in our minds, but truly living it out. Do I wish I was perfect in these areas? Absolutely, but I truly need God’s strength to help me, because thoughts have been a weakness for me for a long time, but I can rest assured that, ““My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9. Renewing your mind is not overnight, especially because we have an enemy out that wants to “kill, steal and destroy” (John 10:10), and his goal is to truly keep us in bondage. Again, this is a whole other blog, but I do believe that physical and mental illness can come from an unsurrendered mind. We can eat the healthiest diet in the world and exercise regularly, but if we are unhealthy in our mind, it can lead to things like stress, disparity, hopelessness, depression, suicide (the absolute worst-case scenario) and many more ailments that can harm us physically and emotionally. I will be doing a series on this topic, because I believe it is extremely important, as it’s a topic that I have barely scratched the surface on, but I wanted to at least give an introduction, so that you can have some things to chew on as the reader! God can and will help you, all it takes is humility and seeing your need for help, as God says, “Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32.
