Self Perpetuation & Mental Health

We are created with Godly purpose. If we stray from that purpose, we fall apart like a car without a driver.

Men and women were created perfectly. We had no disease, no genetic flaws, no weakness. This was God's intended design. This is also why people in biblical times were able to live so long. They were genetically pure, especially compared to us today. It's also why brother and sister could marry and have healthy offspring. The degradation of that perfection began when Eve handed that fruit to Adam and sin entered our lives.

Our genetic make up has become flawed. We've developed diseases and caused famine. We've become increasingly stressed out because it is much more difficult to keep ourselves functional than was ever intended.

In our ignorance, we cry out to God when terrible things happen "why are you doing this to me!?". The reality is, he didn't create this, we did.

In our Western culture we've developed an obsession with 'self'. "My truth", "my time", "my goals"... This self obsession has become ubiquitous in our society. It's perpetuated by the fact that we are all very unwell, especially compared to God's intended vision.

One of the many side effects of my medical condition is severe anxiety. It is something I deal with every day of my life and because it requires so much effort, it is easy for me to spend an entire day completely focused on myself. Infact, I've done this for so many years that I've developed hypochondria and PTSD because of my hyper-fixation on my poor health.

We have all of these terms for fear. We've convinced ourselves that all negative experience is "trauma" or has caused "mental health issues". It has caused an entire generation (more, actually) to believe they are too weak to face any difficulty in life and instead, must spend all of their energy concentrating on their "feelings". The problem is, we are created in God's image and as a result, we have Godly desire ingrained in us.

One of the most basic Godly desires is to serve others. We find meaning and peace in serving others. When we fight against our desire to serve others, we hyper-focus on ourselves and when we do that, we feel all wrong. We feel things within ourselves that we wouldn't notice if we were focusing on others.

The symptoms of constant self focus are real. Focusing all your energy on how you feel makes you sick, not because there's something wrong with you but because you are living in opposition to your Godly purpose. That doesn't mean we should dismiss people who are dealing with mental health issues, but to help them focus their energy on things outside of themselves.

Mental health conditions are absolutely real. People suffer terribly because of them. Doctors and medication are an absolute blessing but they are in the business of treating the symptoms. God is the only one who can heal you and the best way to begin, is to spend your energy on God's intent for your life. Focus on Him and on others and you won't have time to worry about how you feel every moment.

We are created with Godly purpose. If we stray from that purpose, we fall apart like a car without a driver.