Momentum For Monday, October 18th 2021

“…develop common sense and good judgment.” (Proverbs 4:7)

Last week I gave a snippet of my story regarding depression and mental health (if you missed it, you can find it under the October 11th post). Now, I would love to say that moment was my lowest point in my life and that everything turned around from there, but it didn’t. I’ve had many low points since then and many days or seasons of struggle, but that is the reality of life. Progress isn’t linear, but has many ups and downs. What has changed is my strategy. My hope. My understanding- of life, myself, and God.

I’ve learned several things or bits of wisdom over the years. Some ideas or understandings took years to figure out and learn, while others were bits from others of which they paid the price to learn and have passed on to others to help benefit people like me. Either way, I’ve tried to include much wisdom in my habits and life to help improve my overall health, not just my mental health.

Health is not just a matter of eating and drinking. Health is a spiritual matter, and one that God cares very much about. Don’t get me wrong, your girl is not a super-fit health nut, remember this journey is not linear, but an on-going journey of lessons.

One of the things I used to love was Halloween. I grew up watching all the horror movies and doing the haunted houses. I even really got into tarot cards and the Ouja boards. It wasn’t really frightening or sacrilegious to me. I didn’t get saved until my late teens so my thoughts of Halloween were nothing spiritual. My thought process was basically that I equated frightening with fun. In fact, years after I was saved, I still didn’t change my stance on Halloween. I still loved it with every festivity of the season. You could show me all the Scripture in the world about evil and mediums that proved your point and I would actually agree with you, but I just enjoyed that other crap way more.

Then I started to grasp something as I grew in my relationship with Christ- any source of fear I openly and willingly allow in my life will always impact my spiritual battle of my mental health. All depression or whatever mental/emotional issue some how always circles back to unhealthy fear. I could (and did) tell myself all day that none of that Halloween horror crap frightens me, but the spirit behind Halloween is rooted in fear and anywhere I entertain it, I give permission in my life.

So am I telling you that your love of all things spooky connects to your mental health? Yes. But I’m not here to invoke another religious rule in your life. The Holy Spirit convicted me of how I was treating my body, which is a temple of the Holy Spirit, to God. I’m just telling you the lessons I’ve learned so that maybe you become a little happier and freer in your walk with God. You see, now I hate fear (meaning the unhealthy twisted kind, and not the fear Scripture speaks of that promotes respect and reverence towards God) . HATE it. And I hate what it does to myself and others.

I still love Halloween season, I just love it differently. No freaky movies or haunted houses for me, thank you. My mind and heart are way more valuable than some cheap thrill. And I am better for it, I’ve seen drastic improvement from guarding myself in this area. That small bit of wisdom I willingly implemented in my life has reaped so much more peace for me. And I don’t miss that junk either. But you sure will still find me picking apples, enjoying a bonfire, and handing out candy- happy fall y’all.

“Above all else, guard your affections. For they influence everything else in your life.”

(Proverbs 4:23)