I had fun teaching a short class at my church on the topic of Anxiety and Faith.
I think Christians are pretty reluctant to seek mental health treatment. Why? Because somewhere along the line we were taught, either by church leaders or other Christians, that if we would just PRAY enough, or TRUST enough, or have enough FAITH, that God would heal us and formal mental health treatment shouldn’t be necessary.
The issue with this ideology is that when the healing doesn’t come, the insinuation is WE AREN’T WORTHY OF HEALING or that we are broken beyond repair or that God has left us. Seeking mental health treatment is then equated with failure.
Here’s another way of putting it:
“The absence of objective tests to unequivocally establish the presence of mental health conditions has led many church leaders to question the validity of mental health diagnoses … which attributes the presence of mental illness to personal sin.” Stephen Grcevich, MD.
This kick-starts a cycle of shame.
Anxiety is an emotion, not a sin.
HOWEVER, when uncontrolled I feel that anxiety can lead us to sin in the form of maladaptive coping skills.
Excessive Drinking.
Out-of-control shopping.
Affairs.
Basically anything we turn to for comfort and relief instead of God.
Anxiety drives a wedge between us and our creator.
Anxiety is a tactic from the enemy, a tool he uses to cause separation.
WE CANNOT LET ANXIETY WIN.
We must suffocate it, interrupt it, stomp it out.
In the next blog, I’ll share tips on how we can use our faith to combat our anxiety.
Stay tuned friends!
