Mental Illness and The Church
I would like to start off by saying, that I, myself, am a Christian. This blog topic is based on what I’ve personally seen when it comes to mental illness within the church.
I’ve noticed, that when it comes to mental illness within a church, people don’t talk about it much, and when they do, they tell you to pray about it. Prayer is good, and yes I believe there is power in it, but when your prayers for healing go unanswered, there needs to be encouragement from the church, to further your search in getting help. It’s okay to seek help somewhere else, while also praying and getting the comfort you need from God.
Some churches aren’t open to the idea of professional help, others provide their own counseling with trained professionals on staff. It varies in denominations and beliefs, however the fact still remains that there’s a lack of discussion of mental illness.
God has a hand in everything that can potentially better your life. God places people on this earth, who dedicate their professional lives to helping people with mental illness. It's okay to get help. It's okay to reach out and it's okay to not have everything together. Professional help might just be God's answer to your prayer. He does, in fact, work in mysterious ways.
Some churches try to hard to look like they have everything together, however as a community we need to understand that humans aren't perfect. Life affects us Christians just like it affects anyone else. We have to get this idea of "perfect Christians" out of our heads, because if you cannot accept that people need help, how are you supposed to heal them?
You are not a bad Christian if you struggle. You are not a bad Christian if you seek help from someone in addition to your prayers.
Your mental health is important and should be taken care of. No God of ours wants you to suffer if it can be helped, and it can be.
It's time to talk about mental illness within our churches. It's time to make this discussion normal and okay. It's time to help heal our fellow believers and encourage them through their dark times.
-ToriLynn
Some churches try to hard to look like they have everything together, however as a community we need to understand that humans aren't perfect. Life affects us Christians just like it affects anyone else. We have to get this idea of "perfect Christians" out of our heads, because if you cannot accept that people need help, how are you supposed to heal them?
You are not a bad Christian if you struggle. You are not a bad Christian if you seek help from someone in addition to your prayers.
Your mental health is important and should be taken care of. No God of ours wants you to suffer if it can be helped, and it can be.
It's time to talk about mental illness within our churches. It's time to make this discussion normal and okay. It's time to help heal our fellow believers and encourage them through their dark times.
-ToriLynn
No comments:
Post a Comment