Fear Destroys Mental Health
3/28/20
For many years now, the subject of mental health has been
an increasing companion. One cannot jar
loose from this subject being introduced as a part of human concern, rightly so
since the world becomes more troubled as each sunrise occurs. All of us struggle with being challenged but
it is how we deal with such challenges that deem us worthy to claim accolades
of mental health, or so the world says.
God has a different, accurate and eternal point for mental health, one
that goes totally opposite to what the world preaches as gospel. God made us in such a way that if we keep our
eyes and heart on Him our mental health shall always be sound. The world shall never accept this fact but it
is one that we can take into the battle and come out solid minded and
intact. Fear is a loathsome state and it
is not a part of God’s plan for our lives and it is His Will that we not live
in fear because if we do it shall keep us from fulfilling His plan for our
lives.
Most of us know by now that the world is in a state of
unsettledness to which we do not have a clear direction and a clear end in
sight. Occasionally in these articles, I
mention a few ministers that my parents were familiar with during their
ministry years or even a few current ministries that present a word that is
important for our ears. I also have
mentioned a few times of simple and unknown people who have listened to the
voice of God to pray for my family or myself specifically. But here I am going to mention another first,
Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the past Archbishop of New York. I know there are a few concerns about him
currently but that does not matter right at the moment for there is a message
he televised a long time ago talks about exactly where we were versus where we
stand today and the difference between those two stances.
One message of Archbishop Sheen’s, in particular, covered
the basic reasons why Americans were different from all other nations and how
our light shone into all the dark corners of the globe. How we took the Constitution of this nation
to the world and covered everyone who wanted to be free from tyrannical leaders
and governments. These points of
separation and difference that he pointed out were all of the aspects that my
parents taught me as a young boy to strive for as a young man, but these
attributes concerning the Constitution and way of life of this nation no longer
are thought about in such a leadership manner.
The Constitution of this nation and the principles that it was written
for have been turned into a selfish legal document of what I can do and what
you cannot say about me, a dangerous platform that so many lies by and worship
on the most fundamental level. But while
this transformation has taken decades to change it has brought along with it an
instability that is unprecedented one that not only creates fear but instills
it into others so that it can mutate as it is born into their lives. This instability can only produce one final outcome
and that is fear which only brings destruction to those who look towards its
roots for security.
Look at the conditions of the world today and the
pressures that are building within our own nation’s heart. It is disgusting to hear that politicians and
leaders of this land demand that their selfish and prideful lusts be paid for
in legislation designed to help a struggling national economy. It does not matter which side holds the keys
to the passage or defeat of such words because the underlying throngs follow
blindly in one direction without hesitation for what is correct and justified
according to their own agendas. The
actions of people are horrendous not only in thought but in attitude as
well. I thought that when the elections
of 2016 were over and I watched the reactions to a good portion of people and
their actions being replayed over and over would change the way we conducted
ourselves, boy was I grossly incorrect.
Those actions and attitudes not only continued but they grew
exponentially into an everyday lifestyle.
Once again, current times provide us with another glimpse at a situation
that was not expected and we are responding in a similar manner through the
selfishness of our wants.
Can you imagine how our country would have fared if our
Colonial respondents acted in such a selfish and hoarding way? It is this aspect of selfishness that our
Founding Fathers were concerned about rising up and taking hold of people
enough to destroy the original meaning of this nation. Fear is a destructor and will spread like a
virus achieving its reproductive goals in countless inhabitants unless it is
stopped cold in its tracks. Mankind has
had enough time to work out this fact but has failed to recognize the True
answer to fear. That is why our mental
health of today is in bad shape and on its last threads of existence. We have taken God out of our own definition
and have put in His place the world, ourselves as the measure of life, which
brings us to the passage that God wants to share with us today 2 Timothy 1:7.
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God hath not
given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Greek
“For God {has} not
given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-control.”
There are a couple of words here that God wants us to
focus on in this magnificent verse. The
first word to look at is the word “fear” or as the Greek says “timidity”. Most of us at one time in our lives have been
afraid of doing something which would require us to take a step out and
complete an act that we normally would not.
Many who know me say that I am very outgoing and have no fear when it
comes to the words and actions that I portray but that has not always been the
case. As a young lad, I was very shy when
it came to many aspects of the social demeanor and while I do not harbor many
memories of these past moments I have to admit they were there and ruled my
life for quite some time. I cannot tell
you what might have occurred if I had seized those moments and acted differently
but I do know that in every moment that I remained silent and to myself I did
not gain one bit of confidence at all.
It was totally my loss and opportunities that were missed with no
results what-so-ever. This is not how
our lives were created to be or to live amongst, we were told to be different
which means that fear is not a part of God’s establishment and must come from
another source.
The second word that is important here is the word “but”
and it is used both in the English translation and the original Greek. It is a word that introduces contrast to what
has already been spoken or demonstrated, to change direction or mention a
further detail contrary. It is this word
that brings into light exactly how our lives were originally created and how we
were supposed to act every day of our lives.
This word is also indicative of what occurred to change such original
condition into a way of life for us today, a deep contrast to how we were first
designed. The simple word gives rise to
the fact that we were not created with fear leading our lives and heart but one
that held confidence power and integrity as the accomplishments of each breath
taken. Think about all of the authority
we had been given and where our place stood in the eyes of God and eternity,
all to be given away with another single word, disobedience. Interestingly, the condition that we lived in
first is the same condition all humanity seeks to find and yet at the same time
refuses to accept the Way back to this state.
The third word that God wants us to study for a while is
“sound mind”, two words in the English form and “self-control” in the
Greek. As mentioned in the previous
paragraph it is this condition that is most desired by humanity and one that if
ever obtained would fit into place in the original devotion of our
existence. Isn’t it intriguing that
these words run close together and are used together in describing how our
lives were originally created to live within?
Look at the current condition of our world and more specifically what is
ongoing right at this moment. The entire
world is up in arms concerning a small virus that has spread pretty
quickly. Yes, it should be taken
seriously and yes, its containment really should be completed as quickly as
possible but trying to accomplish this task with panic as our first and
foremost tactic shall not get the job done.
A sound mind or a self-controlled heart does not harbor misery, just as
the old adage says about misery and company God does not operate in such a
mode.
There is another beautiful correlation here with these
two words and it demonstrates the setting and condition of the Garden of Eden
and how its atmosphere ran and felt. We
all know that once a person is placed in a nice and calm environment on a
continual basis their bodies begin to really relax and begin to think clearly
making accurate decisions about issues that need to be addressed. It was this state that Adam and Eve lived in
until they allowed chaos and other concepts to flood their minds which eventually
led them to choose sin and disobedience instead of truth and dignity. In contrast, a mind that does not have
self-control or is not considered sounds cannot live in such harmony and peace
for these attributes come from God alone and through His presence only. This means that if our minds and hearts are
not steadfast on God and His Ways we cannot have a sound mind nor can we have
self-control. Once again, look at the
responses that we are producing to the world in this crisis, our decisions
cannot be considered to be sound at all and by the looks of the shelves of many
grocery stores our self-control does not exist either; boy, selfishness is such
a wasteful practice and a prelude to death and for some reason, it is our
passion to fulfill these requests instead of pleasing and living for God.
In a day and age where billions of dollars in this nation
and trillions of other national currencies are spent trying to settle the mind
and heart to return to a sound mind with self-control being the centerpiece, we
miss the answer because we refuse to read and live the Word of God. This verse is not a mistake and it serves as
the clincher for all who suffer from unrest, anxiety, and all other conditions
and states that produce chaos only. Many
ministers and teachers have stated that the Bible has all the answers that
humanity needs, but (here is that word again) we do not embrace the Truth of
God and thus as our reward we shall never see one ounce of peace in our
lives. Satisfaction will only be a dream
and a method of beyond belief on both personal and spiritual levels. God is the ONLY One who is faithful enough to
provide such a steady and dominate life lavished in peace and serenity; He
continues to fervently call for us to hear His voice and to attend our hearts
to Him and His Ways. Waywardness is the
product of the first part of this verse and God is the provider of the second
half of this verse for it is this second half of the verse that God gave to us
in the first place. Money and physical
positioning shall never stand up to the qualities needed in order to defeat
fear and return our sound mine and self-control back to order, only God can
destroy fear.
Church, why are we not teaching such Truth concerning the
place we were once before, the reason why we are in the position we are in today
and most importantly, the One who can change our eternal status? Why have we watered down the Gospel in the
name of publicity and numbers? Why have
we attracted and entertain the world and its political spirit instead of the
Holy Spirit? Why have we traded the Word
of God for the word of the world? Why
are we more concerned about our physical appearances in the church pews instead
of our appearance on the street corner?
Why have we allowed the minister of our congregation to bring in more
people for Christ than through our witnessing?
All of these questions and many, many more break God’s heart as it beats
for life and eternity. This verse is one
that should bring so much joy and happiness to not only our hearts but to those
who are searching for a sound mind and a self-controlled heart. Our fear of the world and the power it has to
control things has been allowed to grow stronger in our hearts than the eternal
power of God, and through this belief and intake, it now shows continually to
everyone around us.
Our sound mind and self-control example to the world is
crumbling right in front of our eyes and we seem not to mind this occurring. God does not crumble nor does He walk in
fear, He cannot yet His children seem to be wandering around in our own present
wilderness doing exactly that. God
states that His Ways are not our ways at all and our actions prove God correct
once again. However, even though God is
far above our ways it does not mean we cannot learn His Ways and learn how to
live in His Ways as much as possible. We
do not have to volunteer sin into our lives we have enough of it already that
we cannot shake. Fear is the enemy of
God and there should be NO reason why fear should rule any part of us. So, why are we teaching that fear is allowed
then? Because we do not know and live by
the Word of God, that is why. Our path
of destruction shall continue as long as we live in such spiritual poverty and
our lands shall not heal at all. The
only way possible for us to understand this verse as it was meant is for us to
go back to Genesis and study how Adam and Eve lived BEFORE sin entered into
their existence and then allow God to show us how He expects us to live through
obedience from His Word.
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