Week One: Foundation
This week we’re starting a new mini-series all about faith and mental health. Faith is your foundation for solid mental health. No matter your beliefs, everyone has faith in something or someone. Even atheists have faith in themselves.
I have a simple question for you today. Your answer will lay the foundation for this entire series and your mental health.
What’s your faith in?
What would you like your faith to be in?
Resource mentioned:
3 action steps to get unstuck so you can move forward toward your dreams
Week Two: Grace
Faith without grace will wreak havoc on your mental, emotional, and spiritual health. In Ephesians, the Bible reminds us that we’re saved by grace through faith so that no one can boast.
Beware of boasting that points the glory back to you. If I take the shame when I fall I will also take the credit when I stand. God is the only one worthy of honor. It is by grace through our faith that we are able to stand. May we never lose sight of that.
Reflect:
What’s your definition of grace?
What’s the Bible’s definition of grace?
Week Three: The Trinity Effect
Our cognitive triangle and the Holy Trinity reflect one another – The cognitive triangle: your thoughts affect your feelings, and feelings affect your behaviors.
Trinity effect: Father (the foundation), Son (shame carrier; grace), and Holy Spirit (our helper). Three in one, yet each plays a unique role in our lives.
“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6
Reflect:
What part of the trinity do you need to activate in your mental health?
Week Four: Diagnosis vs. Identity
“Mental illness is a diagnosis, not an identity or destiny.” – Holley Gerth
The purpose of a diagnosis is to establish a treatment plan. Otherwise, we are just throwing darts at a board that we can’t see. But the diagnosis is NOT an identity or a destiny. In fact, faith and mental health mean hope and a future. The enemy gives a snapshot of the now and says “this is it” while God sees the whole, big picture and says, “look up child, it’s not over.”
Reflect:
Have you received a mental diagnosis that left you feeling shame or hopeless? Have you extended grace to someone in your life who received a mental diagnosis?
Please remember to approach this subject with grace, humility, and surrender to the Trinity. Healing comes through wisdom, understanding, doctors, therapy, medications, natural supplements, AND Jesus, scripture, and prayer. It’s not an either/or, it’s a both/and.
