How to Biblically improve Mental Health
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Intro
Intro
Mental Health is one of the most talked about thing recently.
Think about it, in the last Olympics Simone Biles backed completely out of the Olympics strictly because of mental health.
Today I want to talk about Mental Health - more specifically how you can handle and take care of your Mental Health
When we are talking about Mental Health this is what I am talking about:
Mental health: a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being.
We know it’s important but I think Christians today tend to ignore mental health - more than that, they claim it isn’t real/doesn’t matter.
And yes it is true that mental health is never once mentioned in the Bible - you will not find a verse where Jesus says “take care of your mental health” (mentals and your chickens - Marshawn Lynch)
But we do see many instances of Mental Health being taken care of in the Bible
For example Job was likely depressed after losing everything, Elijah the prophet had suicidal thoughts because the burden was to great, David talks in Psalm 23 about being in the darkest valley yet God was with Him.
But more than that we know this
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
That the Bible is living and active - that God’s word is for us, in every aspect of life. Both of the soul and the spirit, the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The physical and the mental. The Bible has authority over it all
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
That all the Bible is good for the man and woman of God to be complete! That it is to help us in every aspect of life!
The Bible does not directly say what clothes is appropriate to wear, and what clothes are not appropriate to wear, yet I see that you all are wearing clothes that are God honoring and appropriate.
The Bible does not say what music is appropriate to listen to, and which is not. Yet we can use Scripture to see that music builds us up, or tears us down.
The Bible does not directly talk about Mental Health, yet we can see that God cares about our whole being!
So, Biblical, how do we take care of our mental health?
Rest
Rest
You must learn to REST
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
We see that as soon as God created the world he rested. He stopped creating, and took time to step back and rest
The Hebrew word used literally means to rest, cease, or stop.
God stopped and stepped back.
Not only that but look at what he commanded in Exodus
21 “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
The Law is considered very strict about things you do, and do not do. Yet they were commanded to rest.
They were commanded to stop and take a day each rather it was during the harvest, or during the plowing.
Essentially it didn’t matter if you were in a busy season, or if you were in a calm season.
Even Jesus tells us to rest
31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
So the question for us is, are you resting?
Are you actually taking time away to rest and recharge?
Rest is not playing video games, or scrolling TikToc
The Journal Frontiers in Psychology published an article in 2015 where they did a study on your working memory. In the test young adults were given memory tests, then told to rest inbetween tests. The three types of rest they were given was: eyes-open resting, listening to music, and playing Angry Birds. After the rest they would then continue with the memory test.
What they found was everyone’s scores went down while playing Angry Birds. But stayed consistently good with the music and eyes open resting.
This shows us that our rest, and type of rest matters.
Take breaks, relax, think deeply about things - especially things about God
Enjoy what God has created - don’t miss rest!
Release
Release
You must learn to RELEASE
22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Literally get rid of the things we are struggling and dealing with
Here’s the disclaimer!
Release to people that point you to God! If they don’t point you to God you won’t find peace!
See instead we tend to not release and give our problems to God
We don’t go to God for one of two reasons:
God can’t solve our problem
God doesn’t care about our problems
Both of these are crazy things to think! God created the Heavens and the earth, he formed you and knows you!
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
We see that David is writing saying that God took time to make us! He knows every day we will face! He saw us before the world was ever created!
I love what Charles Spurgeon said about releasing our cares to Jesus:
He that is God this day was once an infant: so that if my cares are little and even trivial and comparatively infantile, I may go to him, for he was once a child.
Charles Spurgeon
He told us that no matter how big, or seemingly small we might think are problems are, God can face it and solve! If we think they are childish, Jesus was once a child! If they are major Jesus is greater!
To help your Mental Health you must release your feelings, fears, and anxieties to God! He can take them!
Root
Root
You must learn to be ROOTED
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
We must be rooted in Scripture!
If you are a believer you are new creation, you are meant to walk in Him
Jesus tells us that we as Christians we are vines connected to the branches of Jesus - that we literally can’t do anything without with God - we cannot grow, or survive without him
We cannot bear fruit, find satisfaction, or have good mental health, without abiding in Him
Being rooted goes one step deeper though
Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.
We need to be rooted with believers, with people that are helping us seek God
We need people that will push us closer to God - just as iron sharpens iron, so does a Christian help another grow
To have improved mental health we must not only be rooted in the Bible - but we also must be rooted with people that are actively growing
Our mental health will start to improve when we are rooted to Christ
Receive
Receive
You must learn to RECEIVE
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
Literally we must reveive from God
We must stop and wait and listen for God
“Be still, and know that I am God”
We must wait and listen on the Lord
If you want to receive from God you need to be able to hear from God, and you can only hear from God in the quiet
It looks like this:
Before you read your Bible, pray. Pray that God would guide and direct you and prepare you
Then read your Bible - write down anything that sticks out to you. Take notes
Then after you read, pray through your notes and the passage again. Seeking God
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
To hear from God we must learn to wait on the Lord
To improve your mental health you must receive from God
You must learn to hear from God
Conclusion
Conclusion
Mental Health is a tricky topic because there are so many opinions and thoughts on it
My hope is that you can take this as a guide to help improve your own mental health - rather you are just barely holding on or you are in a great place
Rest
Release
Root
Receive
You must rest - literally take time away to rest and recharge
You must release - literally casting your fears, anxieties and anything else on God - He can handle it
You must be rooted - rooted to the Bible - and rooted with people that are going to point you back to God
You must receive - literally wait and listen for God to move - God is moving and giving, we just need to listen