How can faith help you

In other words: It helps people understand their interpretation of the meaning of life. Spirituality also incorporates healthy practices for the mind and body, which positively influences mental health and emotional wellbeing. Here are some of those benefits:. The takeaway is that: If presented in a supportive way, religion and spirituality can help people improve their mental health and promote recovery. To learn more about how faith and spirituality can benefit mental health, go to www.

We feature the latest research, stories of recovery, ways to end stigma and strategies for living well with mental illness. Most importantly: We feature your voices. Search Close Menu. Sign In About Mental Illness. About Mental Illness Treatments. About Mental Illness Research. Your Journey Individuals with Mental Illness. Your Journey Family Members and Caregivers. Adam and Eve became convinced that God was holding out on them.

Eating from the tree was in their best interests. When things are going wrong, we justify our sin with self-pity. More innocuously, many of us fall prey to pessimism and distrust that what lies in wait over the time horizon is anything but good, often brought on by a nagging suspi- cion that God never did forget our sin, and payday is right around the bend. Everything God does in our lives is motivated by love, and any minor deconstruction of that truth is a lie that can have serious ramifications.

In helping your disciples with this struggle, you might ask some questions to discover if their mind has a proclivity to move down this path. You might also share in what ways you tend to doubt the goodness of God. Intimacy with Christ is the best answer to any and all doubts of His goodness.

When we feel close to Christ, we sense that He is on our side, and when we feel distant, we come to suspect that He is not. Memorizing scripture is great, but passages of scripture are animated by our intimacy with Christ. In some way we are all victims of identity theft. Having trusted Christ, we are heirs with Christ of all that is in Him. In the movie Cheaper by the Dozen, the youngest child is treated as the family outcast.

Over the course of time he begins to believe it, rumors become a lie, and the lie grows in power until he runs away from the family believing he has no place within it. Our faith in our identity in Christ is absolutely foundational to our lives. Faith is fed by reading the Bible. Commend it to your disciples for daily reading particularly during times of deep trials and temptation when they are most prone to forget who they truly are, and believe things about themselves and God which are not true.

Today I deliberately choose to submit myself fully to God as He has made Himself known to me through the Holy Scripture which I honestly accept as the only inspired, infallible, authoritative standard for all life and practice. In this day I will not judge God, His work, myself, or others on the basis of feelings or circumstances. I recognize by faith that the triune God is worthy of all honor, praise, and worship as the Creator, Sustainer, and End of all things.

I confess that God, as my Creator, made me for Himself. In this day, I therefore choose to live for Him. Revelation ; Isaiah ,7,21; Revelation I recognize by faith that God loved me and chose me in Jesus Christ before time began Ephesians I recognize by faith that God has proven His love to me in sending His Son to die in my place, in whom every provision has already been made for my past, present, and future needs through His representative work, and that I have been quickened, raised, seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenlies, and anointed with the Holy Spirit Romans ; ; Philippians ; ,7,13,19; Ephesians ; ,6; Acts , I recognize by faith that God has accepted me, since I have received Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord John ; Ephesians ; that He has forgiven me Ephesians ; adopted me into His family, assuming every responsibility for me John ,17; Ephesians ; Philippians ; given me eternal life John ; 1 John ; applied the per- fect righteousness of Christ to me so that I am now justified Romans ; ; ; made me complete in Christ Colossians ; and offers Himself to me as my daily sufficiency through prayer and the decisions of faith 1 Corinthians ; Colossians ; Galatians ; John ; Matthew ; Romans ; Hebrews , I recognize by faith that the Holy Spirit has baptized me into the body of Christ 1 Corinthians ; sealed me Ephesians ; anointed me for life and service Acts ; John ; seeks to lead me into a deeper walk with Jesus Christ John ; ; ; Romans ; and to fill my life with Himself Ephesians I recognize by faith that only God can deal with sin and only God can produce holiness of life.

I confess that in my salvation my part was only to receive Him and that He dealt with my sin and saved me. Now I confess that in order to live a holy life, I can only surrender to His will and receive Him as my sanctification; trusting Him to do whatever may be necessary in my life, without and within, so I may be enabled to live today in purity, freedom, rest and power for His glory. All things build upon this. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God John I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life 1 John In describing our spiritual armor, Paul uses a helmet to illustrate the truth of our salvation: that which protects the mind, and protects us from a fatal blow.

We make it a critical part of basic follow-up, because scripture affirms that it is. Let your disciples doubt that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Let them doubt that the Cubs will ever win a World Series. But, rehearse this with them until that helmet cannot be pried off their head.

Faith is like a muscle; it grows by lifting weights. Weights are the resistance—the doubts, mental whispers, and circumstances that tell us the opposite of what faith must believe. He is for me. He has a plan. And so all disciples are periodically tossed into a boat and sent out into a raging storm, where God is conspicuous by his absence.

We are not trying to rescue our disciples from the situations and circumstances that will cause faith to grow. Our role is to come alongside them, strengthen their feeble arms and help them to curl the heavy weights that will cause their faith to bulk-up. I think I just described a steroid. God provides the weight adverse circumstances and trials , but they must continue to lift the weight. Alternatively faith grows through new challenges and we serve our disciples well by calling them into circumstances where they will need to trust and rely on God.

They take courageous steps, God shows Himself faithful, and their faith grows. Through the stress and strain of faith development, the truths discussed in this article are the most common fracture points, and the places your disciples may most need your encouragement to wind their way up the hill of faith.

We were all created with a desire to find meaning and happiness in life. But are we looking in the right places? Which journey for meaning and happiness will ultimately fulfill us? Missions are not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. What is Christianity? Learn the basics of what Christians believe. Dealing with Life's Questions Explore answers to life's biggest questions.

Read about individuals who have been transformed by faith. But also Job's faith was tested with severe suffering and finally rewarded with healing, child blessing and wealth. Of course, you cannot transfer the biblical stories into the modern world. Nevertheless, they teach us to stay resilient and not to lose hope. If you find yourself in a difficult life situation, you should ask yourself the following questions:.

The belief in a deeper meaning gives you the hope that everything will turn out alright again, even if you don't believe in it at the moment of deepest pain. In theory, you now know that it is beneficial to see crises as opportunities. Nevertheless, it is human to doubt your faith when a heavy blow of fate hits you. Therefore, we would like to give you 5 tips to keep your faith:.

To keep faith in hope and love, you should spread both. Help others in need, even though you may be in a bad place yourself. When you help someone, you immediately feel that good exists in the world. This doesn't have to be world-changing at all. Even small things can help create a harmonious and loving environment. No matter what higher power you believe in, ask it in prayer for strength and confidence.

In prayer you can get all your worries off your chest without fear of condemnation. This alone is liberating. There is no prescription as to how you should pray. Do it however you feel comfortable. You can say your words out loud or just in your mind.

Talk about your situation with people you know. Your friends may be able to see your crisis from a different perspective. Human interaction is about helping and accepting help. Have you ever noticed that most successful personalities have had a rather turbulent life with numerous strokes of fate? That's no coincidence! It is through trials that one can mature and ultimately acquire the skills to achieve life goals.

Study the biographies of people you admire. Be inspired by their journey. It's best to remind yourself first thing in the morning that every hurdle in your life has a purpose. If it helps you, then start your day with a prayer or a Meditation to remind you of your faith. What could change if faith were to play a greater role in society again? What positive effects faith could have on our society, we would like to examine in more detail below.

There is scientific evidence that people of faith are less prone to depression. Trusting God can keep you from despairing in difficult situations. But what about if you are already depressed? Basically, depression is a disease that requires treatment through psychotherapy and, if necessary, medication. However, finding your way to faith in the midst of a crisis can help you persevere more easily on the road to recovery. Your faith can positively shape your values.

The latter influence your thoughts and actions. In most religions, there are clear rules of conduct that are meant to ensure peace and the well-being of the individual and the community. One thinks here of the 10 commandments of Christianity. Violence, envy and infidelity are clearly forbidden. The basic moral values, which are similar in all known religions, can also form a good basis for today's corporate and economic life.