Spiritual Growth and Your Mental Health

We are looking at all of our spiritual life and have divided it into 5 key area to help us consider how we are made and where to apply effort and energy for change. Let’s review.

Spiritual Life – The life lived in Jesus, in communion with God.
Basics – prayer, spiritual community, bible knowledge. Or three areas of spirituality – doctrine, affection (love) and experience.

Mental Life - Mental life includes emotional, psychological, and social aspects. It is how we think, feel, and act, and determines how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Includes education.

Physical Life – From conception to our last breathe we are physical beings. We don’t have control over much of our physical life but our choices do influence our health and ability. Exercise and diet are key.

Relational Life - Humans are interconnected. The family and community play an important role in our lives. Humans are meant to connect with others on a personal and emotional level and strong, fulfilling relationships help people build and maintain emotional health. We need people. Mentors, coworkers, friends.

Emotional Life - There are many types of emotional skills (aka emotional intelligence). These skills: like emotion regulation, gratitude, empathy, and kindness — help you relate better to others and yourself. Feelings don’t lead us but they do impact us greatly.

Mental Growth - Proverbs 23:7, 1 Corinthians 13:11 The Christian life is an incredible challenge and adventure that requires us to commit everything we are and have to the task. As Christians, we are leaders wherever God takes us, leading the way among lost sheep looking for direction. Through the study of God's Word, we will examine the life of a spiritual leader; through the activities of the summer we will have opportunities to practice what we learn. Everyone will receive training to prepare devotionals as well as practical ministry training, like how to lead a meeting or plan a strategy for ministry. Teamwork initiatives, Japanese language study, reading assignments, and times of discussion will all help us to challenge our thinking and stimulate mental growth. Weekly challenges in the form of rock climbing, rappelling, airsoft scenarios, and team competitions are designed to take each of us to our personal limits, facing our fears and overcoming them as a team. Following the Way requires new thinking.

Tips for mental well-being. Notice how much overlap there is with the other 5 area we are considering. We are not divided beings but unified. All areas of life impact all other areas.
1. Learn to understand and manage your emotions.
Name the emotion you feel and identify the root cause if you can. Journaling can help. Don’t let your emotions control your thoughts.
2. Stay connected to others and regularly talk through things with a friend.
Strengthens relationship and steadies emotions. Allow you to learn from your mistakes as well as others.
3. Get enough sleep.
4. Exercise!
Reduces stress, improves sleep, gets your blood moving and can make you sharper mentally. Great for problem solving.
5. Eat healthy.
Impacts your mood, ability to think clearly, tiredness, irritability, etc.
6. Plan things to do that are positive and move you forward.
Projects, personal and with family/ friends. Things to try help you grow spiritually, spiritual disciplines,etc.
7. Pray.
1 Thess 5:18 – 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Keep your eyes on Jesus in the midst of every trial. Be thankful and learn to express gratitude daily as a natural response to God daily mercies.
Psalm 118:24 - This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Choose Joy!
8. Be a Life-Long Learner.
Learn to ask questions. When you meet new people – be curious. Explore the Bible as a traveler to another country, look for the differences and ask WHY? Research – deeper bible study, practical applications – the “How To”
Make a list of potential skills that would be useful to you or that you would like to know. Pick one and begin!
9. Choose to give your thoughts direction.
Phil. 4:8-9 - 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Don’t let your thought lead you down paths you don’t want to follow. Make choices about what you allow into your mind and be proactive about giving yourself positive things to think about. Choices – books, music, movies, even friendships, will fill your mind with potential avenues your mind will explore. Choose wisely. Exert self-control and discipline.
Reference; https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/publications/our-best-mental-health-tips
The question we all must ask ourselves is not “Where will I be when I face the most difficult challenge in my life?”, but “Who will I be?
Thanks for joining me today. If you have thoughts or questions about your spiritual life, write me at norman@runwithhorses.net I would love to hear from you.