People with emotional problems are not seeing life as it is. Emotional health is facing reality. That reality is the reality of oneself ( and the reality of others and the world). Many people with emotional illnesses ( of which there are many categories, as defined by the prevailing societal institutions) see themselves in a skewed way. The specific nature of the skew is the means by which the emotional problem is named. In Oriental Medicine, there are no such categories. People with a Western mindset, can limit themselves, greatly. For the purposes of this discussion, please loosen your mindset cap.
Christians who follow the Bible as their guide for life, have an advantage. They are taken out of man’s world with it’s labels and transported to an alternate reality. Many Christians give the Bible a bad name, as they are rigid and non thinking. However, God did not mean for us to be this way. Quite the contrary. God, who made this magnificent creation did not want man to be small minded. God is the God of electrons, neutrons and quarks. God is the creator of the smallest particle and the entire universe, which is held together by the integrity of his Word. Do you know that the Bible says the Universe will fall apart if God breaks His word. That is why every Bible promise is true. That is why God will never be done with the Jews. I digress *WHEW*
Back on topic, people with emotional and mental illnesses do not see themselves as they are. How do they remedy that? That is the million dollar question and one I endeavor to answer.First( and I am not cheating) is that one must define oneself as God defines one. This makes it necessary to drop the old labels with which our parents conditioned us. The Bible gives us a new name. We are a child of God. Yes, that is a platitude, as most Bible verses are taken, today. It does the Bible a terrible disservice when people use it in such a caviler manner. The Bible is inspired by the God who created you and the God who created the Universe. How do I know that? How can you know that? There is one answer. There is one answer to new believers or nonbelievers. That answer is the Prophecies. Study them, if only to cast them aside. Josh McDowell did just that, as he hated Christianity. His father was the town drunk. Josh hated everything. He became a lawyer and was determined to prove the Bible wrong. He studied it with a lawyer’s eye. The last thing he wanted to do was believe. This was the first book I read in my many, many year search that brought me to believe in Jesus and the God of the Bible.
I digress, again. My point is that God sees us very differently that we see ourselves. God does not see our flaws. He does not see the one hair on our head which is out of place. He is a loving father. He knows we cannot do this thing called life, perfectly, or even well. God is so very different than most people think of Him. He is much more present. He is much kinder. He is much more forgiving. He is out of the box. Even the Bible cannot tell all the stories about God. The Bible says that, itself. Just a fraction of God’s magnitude is revealed in the Bible. Our human eyes could not receive more. People who have had Near death experiences and have gone to Heaven, have no words to describe it, as it is unfathomable. I just heard a radio interview with a female MD who had such a NDE. I think her name is Mary Neal. I will find out and write about it, more. I am sorry to be so sketchy with details. However, the larger point is that we cannot really understand God. That is why God loves our faith, most of all. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We can’t please Him by our actions. Our actions, even the best ones, are like filthy rags, compared to God’s purity and holiness. As such, we can just come to Him as children, as beggars, but He makes us sons and daughters. That is our identity. Our old self concepts should be cast off, as old worn clothes. We have new robes of righteousness, not from anything we did. It is a gift. We can’t earn it, but we can receive it. We can’t buy it. It is too good to be true, to many, and they pass it up. With that gift, comes our new identity.
However, the rub is that only one part of us is changed at the New Birth. That is our spirit. Our soul( personality) and body remains, as it was. As such, you see Christians being just as much of jerks as non Christians. All a Born Again person can hope for is to STRIVE to do God’s will. If you watch closely, he will fail. A Christian should point you to God, not himself. At any rate, my larger point is that all Christians have a new identity, but it is in the spirit, only. The rest remains flawed. The way for a Christian to understand his new identity is to see what God thinks of him: how God sees him. This can be done, only, in the pages of the Bible. Hence, one’s identity must be taken from the Bible. If anything goes contrary to the Biblical definition of man, one should reject it. This is very, very hard, as we were programmed, as children, to believe lies. The lies about our self worth are resistant to change, very much so. Hence, we must overcome the force of inertia and fear of change to embrace our new identity.
Man has inherited an evil part of himself, through no fault of his own. It has come down from his ancestor, Adam. It is too complicated to explain the hows and whys, here. However, each person knows he has such a core. One’s own resonance with this statement is enough for one to accept it’s validity. Hence, man is born with this evil nature. Man’s conscience convicts him. Man suffers as he knows he is evil. What is the remedy? Only the new birth. The rest of the remedies are palliative, at best. You can take any religion such as Hinduism or any other. They see man as being able to attain Enlightenment. The only religion in which God attains holiness for man, is Christianity. Christianity will make sense to your deepest self , if you listen. Each person has a compass, to lead him Home. Home is finding God, the true God, the only God who can really change you and make you new. We come to the end . How do you find a new identity? Become Born Again. Write to me, if you want more information or if you would like to discuss questions you have on this article.