Can you recognize when it’s time to care of your mind?
You know the feeling — you wake up one morning, roll out of bed, and just feel straight-up sick. It becomes obvious that you will need to spend some time caring for your body over the next few days. For many of us, this is not that difficult to admit; take a few rest days, and you’ll (hopefully) be good to go. However, it can become a different story when taking care of your mind.
God Cares About What We Feel Inside
Jesus emphasizes the mind and soul, knowing that our current earthly bodies are passing away. We can fixate on what we see in the flesh while forgetting the realities of our inner worlds. For instance, in the story of the paralyzed man (Luke 5), Jesus begins by forgiving the man of his sins before healing his body. Sin causes internal torment, and through their forgiveness, the man is freed from what is bogging him down at the root of his heart and mind. Similarly, Jesus wants to heal all parts of our lives, so we can be confident in Him to “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’” (Matthew 22:37).
God Made More Than Our Body; He Wants Us to Connect and Feel in Healthy Ways
As humans, God created us with a physical body, one requiring nourishment, sleep, tending, and honoring. And yet, He did not create us with physical bodies alone. He breathed life into us, making us in His image and crafting our minds capable of connection, creativity, compassion, reason, emotions, and personality. Just like having a healthy body enables us to move about through life, having a healthy mind enables us to meaningfully connect and engage with God, ourselves, and the world around us to bring Him glory in the world He made. Check out this article if you are interested in reading more about how being healthy helps us spread the Gospel to others needing physical, spiritual, and emotional care.
Let the Church Body and Your Community Help Take Care of Your Mind
So why is it easy for us to schedule a doctor’s appointment for that lingering cough but so difficult to admit we could benefit from talking to someone about what is going on in our minds? There are multiple factors in response to that question. For Christians, in particular, we often feel we can ONLY go to God with our emotions and internal challenges.
One component of caring for your mind can be partnering with a mental health professional to sort through your emotions and rewrite false narratives, internal talk, or unprocessed wounds that plague you. While our Father is the truest way to ultimate healing and should be intimately involved in the healing of our minds, He’s also called us to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2) and has gifted His counselors with deep empathy, compassion, and intelligence to accompany His people along their mind’s healing journeys.
To be fully human is to care for our bodies and our minds. Good stewardship of our unique personhood begs us to nurture both.
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Check out our other blog posts to learn more about living a mentally healthy life as a Christian.
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Visit our mental health resources tab for more information on therapy and how to find a therapist.
Keeping a healthy mind has to do with posotive thinking, keeping good conpany, engage yourself in spiritual activities and consistent prayers for the holy spirit to guard the mind.
You’re right! You’ve listed some key elements to keeping a healthy mind. Please feel free to share this post with others who you think would benefit from it 🙂
This insightful article underscores the importance of caring for both our physical and mental well-being, drawing parallels between seeking medical care for the body and being open to mental health support. With a biblical perspective, it highlights Jesus’ emphasis on addressing the soul and inner turmoil. The article encourages a balanced approach, recognizing that God created us with both physical and mental aspects, and advocates for seeking help from mental health professionals while relying on God. The message reinforces the idea that embracing the fullness of our humanity involves nurturing both our bodies and minds with care and intentionality.