““Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
– Mark 11:22-24
 Oftentimes, as believers, we think that if we beat ourselves up or if we foster thoughts of shame, it will lead to holiness. We’re wrong. Shame always leads to sin. When you beat yourself up and you say I’m a horrible, rotten person, you’re going to see that that only triggers you to do more sinful things in life. In addiction theory, this is called the addiction cycle. You have an emotional trigger. When you have a bad day at work or you get in a fight with your spouse or your best friend, you’re sort of emotionally raw and you need something to deal with it. So the next step in that cycle is craving. Whether it’s substance abuse like drugs and alcohol, pornography, gambling, compulsive shopping, workaholism, overeating, under-eating, cutting, I believe that all of us are just a little addicted to something. But at the root of our addictions is this one thing: shame. Shame says I’m not good enough, I stink, this is how I am, I’ll never get there, and shame always leads to sin. Beating yourself up and bullying yourself will never get you where you want to be. But guess what? The positive confessions of scripture and the promises of God — even when they don’t feel true — come true as you profess them! Jesus was constantly proclaiming things over people that in the natural just weren’t true. And then they became true |
Prayer
Thank you, God, for your promises. Even when I feel like they aren’t true for me, they’re true for you. Make them true for me.
Reflection
What positive things from God can you profess over your life?
One Response
Thank you for talking in depth about mental health!