The Gospel: Good For (Mental) Health

1. I have a loving Father who promises to keep me to the end; a Spirit who helps me in my pain; a Saviour who loves me to death; and leads me step by step. Therefore what I do now matters. I am here for a purpose.
2. It’s not just that Jesus saves me at the beginning.  Every single day of our Christian life, whether that’s five days or fifty years, He’s the same.  Every day He carries me; every day He meets me with fresh mercy and grace; every day He gives me new hope and strength.
3. The gospel tells me that everyone is broken, whatever we look like on the outside.  So church should not be somewhere I’m scared to be real; but the one refuge in a judgemental world.  Here, I don’t need to wear a mask.  Here, I can afford to be honest.  Here I meet other messy people, and I am not ashamed.
4. The bible gives me an explanation for my struggles but doesn’t define me by them. It reminds me that above all, I am a daughter of the living Lord. It teaches me to let go of old habits and live out of this new identity.
5. The Lord understands and His Spirit takes my jumbled thoughts and fears and makes them into sense.  When I don’t know how I feel; when I can’t put words to my heart, He gets it.  And he has borne it.
6. Jesus redeems my suffering and is with me in it.  Through it, He is teaching me more about Him and myself.  He is building my character and He is refining me.  He is making me into someone who cannot be shaken and is not afraid of tomorrow.
7. I am never alone. Nothing can separate me from my Lord and He gives me brothers and sisters to help carry my burdens in His name.
8. A day is coming when my body and my brain will be perfect.  And until that time, I am renewed each day in His strength.
9. I am already accepted and already loved. I don’t need to prove myself; or pretend or perform.  I don’t need to fix myself or other people. I don’t need to atone for my own mistakes.  I don’t have to take control or make the world safe.
10. I have hope; even in despair.  I have comfort, even in suffering.  I have peace, even when my world is shaking.

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