I know… I have shared this before, but I am still amazed how mentally healthy the bible is… and particularly the New Testament.
In the OT there was a lot of law… and a heck of a lot of war for survival. In the NT things are returned to how they first were at the beginning when God called Abram out of Ur and Abram simply believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Now it’s about faith, just like it was way back then with Abram. In fact, it was about faith all the way back in the Garden of Eden… but Even and then Adam lacked faith and things got complicated.
But, Im getting distracted… this post is me sharing my amazement at how mentally healthy the advice in the bible is.
It is undoubtedly true that our words give us life or death… our choice of words bless us or curse us.
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. – Prov 18:21
How we feel about ourselves totally influences our choices and our lives.
Above all else,
guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it. – Prov 4:23
At the heart of any depressed person is someone who lacks optimism. You cannot be optimistic AND be depressed at the same time.
A long time ago God showed me that “the three things which remain”… faith, hope and love… each are a part of our life. We need to take care of all three. I wrote about this quite extensively…
Now that I look at that old image, I would change the subtext under faith, I would remove “healing” and insert “what you believe is true”… except those words wouldn’t fit in the space provided.
The part I am focussing on is HOPE… it’s all about our thinking.
Let me give you an example… the bible says we should be thinking about these things…
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things. – Phil 4:8
Now THAT is optimism! But do you realise what it means? It means no more violent movies. It means rejecting the thinking of this world…
Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind – Romans 12:2
I have always loved this next verse from my teens onward… it gives me permission to not be sneaky, not lie, not cheat, not compromise, not take any form of bribe, to not even let people speak to me in a way that might cause me to be complicit in their sordid schemes…
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises gain from fraud and from oppression,
who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and
shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil. – Isaiah 33:15
What if we literally did that.. stopped going to movies that are about violence? What if we didnt watch the news all the time? What if we didnt have plans to get a tv in most rooms? What if we banned MTV and banned all occult TV series from our homes?
What if we used our evenings after work to focus on loving our partner, loving our kids, loving our neighbours.
What if we actually lived as the bible describes? What would it be like? What would we look like to the world?
Do not be conformed to this world
What would it be like if you changed your mind… forgave and set aside the things that hold your thinking back? What would it be possible for you to do for God in this life if you let go of low self esteem? What if you said yes to more opportunities in life simply because you trust God to help you do all things through Jesus Christ?
Isnt this next verse so true?
A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. – Prov 17:22
We cant have an optimistic and joyful heart if we also have bitterness and other negatives…
Let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander
be put away from you,
along with all malice.Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another – Eph 4:31-32
You cant be optimistic AND negative at the same time. It’s a choice you have to make between those two types of thinking.
God wants the best for you
Looking at all of that advice which God gives… clearly the author of the bible (God!) wants you to have a loving, successful, joyful experience here on earth.
As Joyce Meyer said its the battlefield of the mind. A good quote by Joyce is this: “You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.”
What we do between our ears… our thinking… totally defines our experience in this world. Our heart needs to be guarded because from it flows the quality of your life experience…
Above all else,
guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it. – Prov 4:23
So the bible’s advice is… be renewed… change your thinking.
Common sense is required…
Please note that I am not saying that we should avoid telling the truth about real life problems. That is just stupid. The truth sets us free! Yes, go ahead and tell the truth to someone that you trust. Forgive and let go of anger and malice etc. But dont forget to tell the truth first!
I dont think these verses say that you should ignore the problems of life, or ignore any abusive people in your life. No, not at all. Instead, when you have told the truth, let it go, let it drop,
When you have done that, you will be able to change your thinking more easily and begin to focus on the things the bible says to focus on.
God bless you!
Faith + Hope + Love 