Have a healthy head and heart | Faith

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Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Heart health: Heart disease is the leading cause of death with over 300K deaths in the USA alone every year. People tend to get seriously concerned when their cholesterol levels are out of order. They usually get scared and begin to make life-changing decisions, especially after a heart attack! Thankfully, medical professionals have told us that there are things a person can do to help improve their heart health — healthy diet and exercise, removing unnecessary stress, etc. There are some things you have no control over, but have to monitor and stay aware (genetics, family history, etc.)  Head health: When a person’s mind gets overloaded with stress and internal pain, many times they turn to drastic and dangerous measures. Stress and internal pain are contributing factors to suicide (10th leading cause of death in the USA, and second leading cause of death in people ages 10-34.) Mental health is not something we can afford to overlook or pretend doesn’t exist. For some reason, we have no trouble diagnosing, and even accepting, any other sickness in the body, but those suffering with mental health often get “the cold shoulder,” when we might ought to give them a firm shoulder to stand on or a soft shoulder to cry on as they find and feel their healing in Christ. You’ll find mental health lurking behind several names and titles: • PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Any traumatic event can create such stress that your mind is scarred from the experience: war, traumatic events, abuse, accident, etc. • Depression – that sinking and dark feeling that tries to drag you into its pit of despair. • Anxiety – unexplainable frustration and/or anticipation of you know not what. • Panic Attacks – They come from nowhere, but they create a nervous experience and emotional distress that is uncontrollable. Nobody asks for these stressors to come into their life, but they do. Life has a way of damaging and trying to control your head. Does any of this sound familiar? Whatever may have happened to you in your life, you can know relief and the reward of trusting Jesus Christ to help you heal. Spiritually, God’s Word addresses the importance of a healthy head (mind) and heart. Too many times, Christians avoid the specifics of mental health and overlook what we cannot explain or understand. The sad reality is that ignorance and ignoring the problem will never fix or cure the problem. If a Christian couldn’t be affected mentally and emotionally by the changes and challenges of life, the Bible wouldn’t address the issue. Since the Bible does give specific instructions, we should take heed to the truth of God’s Word and His personal care for His children. Just like with heart health, you can’t “pick and choose” which part of the treatment you want … you have to do it all! From this passage in Philippians chapter 4 (beginning with verse 1,) we see a pattern for strengthening our minds and giving peace to our life! The following points are clearly laid out in the Bible: • Know that you are loved and cared for. • Know that Jesus is near. • God promises His own peace (which passeth all understanding.) • Old habits will try to take over! • It’s your mind. It’s your thoughts. It’s your choice. Choose to deliberately put your mind and heart on the truth of God and His Word for peace you cannot explain!!! See you in church! (Pastor Jones can be reached by email pastor@faithbaptistchurch.us. Follow him on Twitter @PastorTonyJones or visit an upcoming service at Faith Baptist Church … “The Church on the Hill.”)