Well, here's the continuation of this week's Sunday afternoon discussion for those who are interested.
I don't think most of us think about psychology as being a topic with much relevance to God, but it really is. Secular psychology is really dangerous because it tries to explain human nature without acknowledging God. The problem with this is that we will never understand ourselves without the right perspective.
Sunday, I was talking about the book Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. God has really showed me a lot through this book and I would encourage all of you guys to read it. I'm pretty sure it's available in paperback now, so you should be able to pick it up fairly cheap at any Christian bookstore. It might seem like it doesn't really apply to you as it talks a lot about how men relate to their wives and children, but at its core it does a great job at laying out what God made men to be and how and why we struggle with that after the fall.
John also wrote a book for women called Captivating. He wrote it together with his wife. I've read about half of that one just for the heck of it - seems pretty good I guess (I wouldn't know exactly, but Marissa tells me it hits home dead on).
Point is, it's important to understand human nature from a biblical perspective. So let's talk about what that perspective involves. Any thoughts? Leave some comments.
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Monday, April 10, 2006
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Here's a thought I had: Ryan mentioned something about Tom Cruise. Actually, I have to say, Cruise, despite being crazy, actually might have been right about some of what he said in that interview. Do you guys think there might be a problem with the way more and more drugs are being prescribed to treat "mental illnesses"? If you're depressed, there's a drug for that - there's several drugs for that. No matter what "mental illness" you have, there are drugs. But maybe people get depressed because of the void in their soul that should be filled with God. See what I'm getting at?
By the way, I'm not suggesting that everyone going through depression is going through it because they don't have a good relationship with Christ, but I think that this could be the case with many people. These people will never find what they are looking for in a drug.
I've been thinking about this topic since Sunday.. I wasn't quite sure what to say, though. It's not exactly a topic that you can come up with a great response instantly. But after really inspecting these things, strangely enough I realized that I made for quite an interesting example of psychology. O_o I'll get to that in a minute.. =P
About drugs being prescribed to those with mental illnesses... Well, I really don't think that it should be the first thing suggested when someone is dealing with depression. There is a reason for the way emotions react, it's a part of life. If we tried to bury all grief in pills then we would be pushing out fully being saved by God's grace.
A few months ago I probably wouldn't have agreed with what you said about depression can be caused by not being closer with God.. That's not what everyone's problem will be, of course. But I do agree that it has a big part of what some people may be desperately searching for.
The greatest healer of all time is God, not that little case of pills that could easily get thrown away. You can't throw out God's love, even if you don't except it at times he's not going to stop caring for you.
You can't be guaranteed that God is going to fix everything when your world is shattered, but he did promise to be there for you when you are facing these heartaches.
That's what I had to learn after being thrown around so much in an emotional battle last year..
As much as it burdens me to say, I would have easily classified as someone with a "Mental Illness". I thought I was going crazy, never imagined I was capable of living a life beyond pain. Depression closed me off from the anyone in the world, including God..
I was brought down so low the only escape I could find was by cutting myself again and again.
I often couldn't even make it through a day without breaking down and crying then. But every time I fell over the emotional edge God showed me his hopeful presence in many ways.
One day I'd be begging for God to save me, and the next I would be pushing him away. Trying to create a path for myself when there was already one made for me. I know that God was waiting for me to realize that the plans I designed for myself would never work out.
At that point in time, all that I thought that could help were those prescription drugs for depression. Every time I reached for them the only thing that I could stumble across was a Bible.
I was thoroughly convinced that I was crazy, but it was something deeper than tangled "mental" emotions.
I was searching for something to fill the emptiness and to take the pain away. God was getting my attention, because he wasn't first in my life, and he wasn't in any way going to accept second place. Love anything more than God, even if you're not aware that you are doing that, God's going to remove that "something" until he comes first.
It seems like we're trying to fill he "void", as was mentioned. But I think it's the other way around. I think it's God seeking us to fill our emptiness. He gives us the option of receive a fuller life if we let go of all of the things that we're trying to squeeze nonexistent happiness out of. When I laid them down and placed God first I found true joy, not just the one-minute happiness from things that just won't last.
If I don't learn something the easy way than I'm going to have to learn it the hard way. And I have a tendency to only learning things after I go over the edge.
I don't need a book of scientists or psychologists telling me how and why mental illnesses haunted me for so long. I don't need pills to make things better either.
If it takes grief and wrecked emotions to learn that I needed God, then it is understood now. And it was worth it. =)
Awesome! That's what I'm talking about! That's what our youth group need more of - honesty. We can share these things with each other. If we can't, then something is wrong. Thanks Melody.
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