Mental Health For Christians: Sound Mind In Christ | EP9

Dear God Sister,

Have you ever struggled with anxiety, troubled thoughts and wondered if you would ever find peace? In today’s faith-building episode of The Your God Sister Podcast, we’re talking about mental health through the lens of salvation. We will continue building beliefs that are based on God's Word.

The enemy’s tactics are often subtle. Scripture reminds us not to be ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). Many believers unknowingly carry patterns of thinking shaped by the world rather than by the finished work of Christ. But the good news is this: Jesus didn’t leave our minds out of redemption. On the cross, He bore the weight of a troubled mind so that we could walk in true peace.

When we allow God’s Word to challenge the thoughts we’ve accepted as normal, everything begins to change for our good. 

If you’ve ever wrestled with negative thinking, spiritual attacks on your mind, or the pressure to think like the world, this conversation will help you:

🩷 Recognize that peace is a benefit of salvation through Christ.

🩷 Become aware of the enemy’s subtle strategies so you are not ignorant of his devices.

🩷 Understand that Jesus defeated a troubled mind on the cross—and His work was complete.

🩷 Break free from worldly patterns of thinking that contradict the Truth.

🩷 Allow God’s Word to confront and transform wrong thinking so your mind can be healthy.

God never intended for His children to live under the weight of confusion, anxiety, or defeated thinking. As we renew our minds with His Word, we step into the peace and clarity that Jesus paid for us to enjoy.

If you have ever desired to go deeper in faith, enjoy authentic God-centered community, or a space where biblical wisdom for everyday life is the norm, this is the place for you.

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Until next time...

Transcript

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Is your mind troubled? Do you feel like there are no answers for you? Are you seeking natural help for a spiritual problem? Do you believe the magnificent power available to you through Jesus can actually heal your mind? Let's talk about it. There is much misguided advice out there on today's topic. But as promised, here on the Your God Sister Podcast, we will always go to God's word for truth. Popular opinion is not our source for truth. Here, the Bible is highly regarded. If there is ever a choice to be made between the Bible and the popular opinion of society, culture, and the world, we will always side with God and his word. That's the safest place to be found. With that clearly stated, let's delve into the topic of mental health. This is such a huge topic in our world today. It's trendy to have a therapist. And let me be clear, I am not knocking the medical field. However, I am pointing you to what is available in Christ. I am also exposing the subtle tricks of the devil. All he can do to get entry into our lives is to get us to work with him. This has been his strategy from the very beginning. And you can check out Genesis 3 verse 1 in the King James Version to see what I'm talking about. Welcome to the Your God Sister Podcast, where we address life's challenges with biblical answers while enjoying our time together. A couple of constants here are what the Bible says and what the Lord speaks to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. My name is Joy Cooper. I am an associate pastor, I am a youth minister, and through the years I've had the opportunity to mentor young ladies. But on this podcast, I'm here with you. So let's get back into it. Let's think about this for a moment. If the devil would desire to destroy the minds of people and then offer solutions that are poor at best, what could be some means to do this? Well, number one, he might have us look at celebrities and famous personalities who say things like, We're taking the stigma off of mental health issues. Let's normalize things. Should there be shame and needing help for your mind? Absolutely not. But you must be careful about where you seek that help. Number two, the devil might also bring up things in your family line. He might say to you, Daddy dealt with depression, so you should expect to as well. Number three, he might even involve himself in the pharmaceutical industry. It is not uncommon for a depression, suicidal thoughts, etc to show up in a list of side effects for some of the medications out there. I submit to you that in Christ there is a better way. Let's look at what Jesus endured so we wouldn't have to. Isaiah 53, 4 and 5 in the New Living Translation says, Yet it was our weaknesses he carried. It was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins, but he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. What a picture of what was provided for us. I believe this is my reality. My mind is healthy because Jesus took a troubled mind from me on the cross so I could walk in freedom and peace. So if you need your mind to be healthy and sound, this is a good place to start your journey. Believe God's word. Believe the full benefits of the cross. As we have said many times before, your salvation is not just a ticket to heaven, it's a life full of fantastic benefits. In reference to mental health, I've heard people say they need more than Jesus. I say to you, with the full backing of heaven, Jesus is enough. I want you to think about that. When he died on the cross, there was nothing else for him to do. That's why he sat down. He said, I'm finished. It's finished. And he took his place at the right hand of the Father, seated. He's done. So let's continue forming beliefs based on God's word. Philippians 2 5 in the New King James Version says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. This passage goes on to speak of a specific way to think like Christ. However, let's not overlook a major point. We can have the mind of Christ. If we can let his mind be in us, unfortunately, we can also not let his mind be in us. We have a choice. The word of God will always point us to the right choice, but God will never, never force us to choose correctly. I've got more scripture for you. Can you imagine that? Romans 12, 2 in the New King James Version says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may know, you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I also want to look at this same verse in the Passion Translation. You know how we do it here. We just explore uh several translations, we really get deep into what God is saying to us. So the Passion Translation says, stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God's will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes. This is powerful, what this verse is saying. There's so much here. One is we are not, we are told, don't you be like the world, don't you be like everybody else around you, don't you be taking on the um character of the culture. Don't conform to that. Stop imitating that. You have a different reality. As a Christian, as one who's received Jesus as Lord and Savior, we have a different reality. And so just because we're here in this world is a scripture, doesn't mean that we're of this world. I could be standing right next to somebody and be just as different as different can be. And I'm not just talking about natural differences, I'm talking about like I'm actually from another place. The place that I am from is not like this world. The place where I live my life from is not from this world. So the world might take on, um, you know, I need therapy. My mind is messed up, I got problems, I got issues. I, on the other hand, said, Jesus, you took my issues. You took anything that would trouble my mind so I could have a sound mind. The Bible says, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but power, love, and a sound mind. That's my reality. So it doesn't matter what the culture raises up to be the thing. That's not my thing. And I will not, I will not be influenced wrongly by the world. I don't care what they're saying, and I don't care who's saying it. My reality is God's word. My reality is truth, and he, Jesus, is truth. We're looking at these scriptures because we must base our beliefs on truth. Often we are tricked to base beliefs on facts. Facts change, truth does not. And here's an example of that. A fact could be I have exactly five dollars and twenty-eight cents in my bank account. That could be factual information, but the truth, according to the word of God, is my God will supply all my needs according to his riches in glory. Not according to my bank account, according to his riches. And he's not at a loss for riches. If I believe the truth over facts, the truth will change facts in my life. And I'm gonna tell you this, I have experienced this over and over and over again. When I aligned my beliefs with the truth of God's word, it changed my facts. Literally changed my facts. I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna give you a testimony. I was having um a health challenge. I was prescribed medication for a thyroid issue. And they said, you're gonna be on this medication for the rest of your life. I said, for the rest of my life, for the rest of your life. And that just didn't sit well with me because I know what God's word says. I know that by his stripes I was healed. So I was like, mm-hmm, uh, mm-mm. So I would take the medicine, but every time I took the medicine, I said, Lord, I thank you that I'm healed. Lord, I thank you. I believe what Jesus did on the cross. I believe. I believe that. And I think I was on that medication, might have been a year or two, and I just keep saying that. I kept believing the truth, not the facts. And I didn't dis I didn't discount the facts. It just wasn't truth to me. I had a higher reality based on God's word. And I went into uh, you know, they would check my blood count every every once in a while, every six months, three months, whatever. And I went in and the doctor, I mean, he almost didn't want to tell me. I mean, they literally told me you there, you this will always be. And he told me, oh yeah, you could stop taking the medication. I was like, come again, you can stop taking the medication. You're you're you're fine. And I mean, they just said it so regular, like they was almost upset to say it. But I was like, okay, so you're telling me I can get off this medication right now. Yes. So I know that believing the truth of God's word can change a fact. It can change it. There was nothing I did to change that other than believe the truth. Oh, this is so wonderful. I hope you're being blessed. And I have I have more than one occasion to that being my reality. Sticking with the truth of God's word, sticking with the truth of God's word. I didn't do anything crazy. I didn't say I'm not taking this medicine. I took the medicine, but I took it in faith, believing the truth. So don't push back on this. It might feel strange right now because your old way of thinking is being challenged and lovingly dismantled by God's power. Let God's word change you. It's so you can live in a more um just live in the fullness of what Jesus provided. Now let's look at Philippians 4, 4 through 8, the Passion Translation. Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let your joy overflow and let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near. Don't be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled request before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life. Then God's wonderful peace that transcends human understanding will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind, and fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always. So this right here, this right here is how to keep the mind from going where it wants to go. Most people have mental trouble because they're thinking about all the wrong things. If you're thinking about trouble, if you're thinking about problems, if you're thinking about yourself, if you are thinking constantly about issues, your mind was not made for that. So it will trip up. Our minds were to be thinking the things that this scripture tells us to think. There is so much that God has done. I mean, you know, you think, oh, that's just so childish, just so silly to say, think about your pinky finger. Think about the fact that it works, it can bend. And then think about the fact that you have two of them. Think about the fact that you have two hands. Think about the fact that you have two ears. Think about, and even if I'm talking to you and you don't have a pinky finger, think him for something else that you do have. I'm not trying to be funny and I'm not trying to be um dismissive, but we have so much to be thankful for. That if we thanked him for everything that we could, we would never have enough time to go into the things that we consider to be wrong or the things that we're not pleased with. And thanking him for what we do have will change other things. I believe, I'm just gonna go all the way and say it. I believe that if you're listening to me and don't have a finger, don't have a limb, I believe that Jesus can heal that and give you one brand new. Yes, I do believe that. Jesus, what he did was so powerful. We limit that power with our thinking. We limit what we experience here because of how we think. It's not him limiting, it's not him not wanting to do it. This is good. I'm going places I didn't expect to go, but it's it's good and it's the truth. So if we were to think on him, think on things that are good, what is good? God is good, what is honorable? The fact that he sent Jesus to die for us so we could be close to him, so we could have access to him. What are things that are pure? Jesus' blood is pure. It was the perfect sacrifice for us. That's why it worked, because it was pure. Oh, thank the Lord, thank the Lord. So here's our last scripture for today. Second Corinthians 10, three through five, amplified classic edition. For though we walk, live in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh, and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical, weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. So, what is this saying? This is saying we have control over our thoughts, and that's hard to believe because thoughts just they just come, you just think, you just think, okay, you know, I this is my thought. Not every thought that you think is yours, not every thought that you think originates with you. There is a devil, and he will send thoughts to you now. If you take it as yours, if you don't take it down, if you don't say, uh-uh, that thought is not authorized to come through my mind. And most people don't do that because it takes work. It takes work to deal with every thought. It takes work to be like, nope, that's not acceptable. Not doing that. Okay, yes, that thought you can come in. Yes, I will think on God. Yes, I will think on his goodness. Yes, I will think on the wonderful things that he's provided for me. But nope, nope, nope, I will not worry. Nope, worry thought, you're not allowed in. Nope, nope, depression, depression. Oh, nope, you're not allowed in. We're not doing you. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Take that back out. That I don't. I'm not signing for that package. That takes effort, but it's not impossible. If you want a sound mind, you got to check these thoughts at the at the gate of your mind. You can't just let anything in. So that's what the scripture is saying. Take every thought captive, another translation says. You make it captive, you take it captive and line it up against God's word. Is this a is this according to to the word of God? Is this acceptable according to the word of God? Or is this something that's trying to slip in? Is this the subtle work of the devil trying to slip in, slip in a wrong thought on my mind? So when we're talking about mental health, we have the tools to have a sound mind. Jesus has provided the tools. He tells the word tells us we can think like he thinks, we can have the mind of Christ. The word tells us that we can take thoughts like we literally can take thoughts captive. The wrong thoughts go in jail. You can think about it like that. Good thoughts, you're you're allowed to walk free. This is good. Then the Bible even tells us what to think. So if you if a thought comes and it's not something that we should think according to the word, stop thinking it. Replace it. No, I will not, I will not think depressed thoughts. I think that God, He has provided for me and I have a sound mind. I thank you. I think that on the cross, Jesus took, um, he took a lack of soundness on the cross, so I wouldn't have to. This is active. This is not passive, but it will, you know, and I think and I'm gonna say it, I'm gonna say it because I'm because I love you. Sometimes I think it's easier to just lay on the therapist couch to just take the antidepressant. It's easier to do that than to address every single thought. And sometimes because other things are easier, we accept it when there's something better being offered. So I challenge all of us, myself included, yes, myself included. I challenge all of us. Don't take the easy way out, take the God way and do it with him. And with him, it actually is easier. Because don't nobody, I mean, you think about that. And again, not vilifying the medical field, but you think about the money spent for these medications, these sessions, these therapy sessions. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Jesus' blood, most precious gift, but cost us nothing. All we have to do is believe. We don't have to pay for it, we just have to believe. So I just challenge you to allow God to shake up your thoughts. To, you know, because like I said, people push back on this stuff, but it's like, what are you pushing back on? Are you pushing back on wanting to go to therapy? Are you pushing back on wanting to be on medication? Again, I was on medication, but I was like, no, this is not gonna always be the case for me. I will take it and I will say, Lord, I thank you for your blood. I thank you that I am healed by your stripes. I thank you. I thank you, Lord, that I know what is available to me. And then my facts changed because I stood on the truth. So that's what I'm saying to you. I'm not saying if you got a therapy appointment tomorrow, go. But say to the Lord, Lord, this might be my fact right now, but the truth is I have a sound mind. The truth is I have the mind of Christ. And watch your facts change. Pause and think on these things until next time. Wow. We're going deeper and deeper into God's word. I hope you are enjoying our time together as much as I am. I'm going to put together a list of the scriptures we read today along with some other scriptures regarding our minds. Think of these scriptures as your prescription from the Lord. Go to www.yourgodsisterpodcast.com and just click on episode 9 and you can download your list. Also, I really want to hear from you. If you have a question, you may leave a comment or you can use the submit a question link in the description. We'll talk soon, but until next time, know what the Bible says and treasure what the Lord speaks to your heart.