Mental Illness & The Sinful Nature

 "For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." -Galatians 2:19-20 

The topic of the sin nature in the realm of mental health is a pretty tricky topic and unfortunately it has fallen out of favor amongst most mental health professionals. However, as a Christian mental health advocate who cares about what the Bible says, I cannot ignore this topic. I would like to make mention that I do believe that people who struggle with mental illness are indeed responsible for any sinful behavior that they exhibit. I do not think that mental illness absolves us of our guilt before God. However, I do believe that mental illness can and often does lead one to commit sinful acts. I know that a lot of my Christian brothers and sisters will balk on this idea when they read this, but please hear me out. I am not only a mental health advocate but I am also someone who struggles with a very real illness called Schizophrenia so I have personal experience in this area. My Schizophrenia does cause me to experience delusions and hallucinations that often do lead me into sin. For example, years ago I had an intense delusion where I believed that I must assassinate Donald Trump. This in of itself is horrible enough but if I would have followed my delusion and attempted to assassinate the president, it would have been because of my mental illness. I would still be at fault for my sin but because of my degenerative brain disease I essentially lost control over my inhibitions. I hope that I am making myself really clear that I am not trying to say that I am faultless because of my illness. On a much lighter note, what about someone who struggles with an anxiety disorder? Some people might think that someone who never leaves their house could just be lazy. This is a possibility, however, another possibility is that the person could be suffering from a crippling fear of the outdoors. In this instance, yes laziness is a sin, but the person's mental illness is the cause for their laziness. These are just a couple pertinent examples of how mental illness can lead to sin and I can write an entire novel replete with examples of this but for the sake of this blog, these two examples will suffice. 

If mentally ill people were left in this predicament then we would have absolutely no hope. However, according to the above scripture we actually do have hope In Christ. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin but when He did we literally died in Him. The Apostle Paul so closely identified us with Christ that he makes the claim that we actually died on the cross with Christ. Then when Jesus rose from the dead we were raised with Him. Let this truth sink in some. It is because we have a new life in Christ because of His resurrection that we are not living for ourselves, This is absolutely wonderful news for the mentally ill because we need to understand that when we are in Christ our identities are not found in our illnesses but in Him. It is precisely because we have a new life in Him that we no longer need to struggle with our symptoms. Does this mean that we won't struggle anymore? Absolutely not! We will always struggle until either Christ returns or until we go to be with the Lord. However, when we do struggle with our symptoms or when our illnesses do lead us to sin, Christ is our advocate who is always interceding on our behalf and as someone who has been tempted in every way we are and was without sin He can sympathize with our frailty. We can always turn to Christ when we are dealing with our weaknesses because He cares for us and as the Sovereign Lord He is always sustaining us as well. So, always remember what the Apostle Paul tells those who are in Christ concerning the love of God, 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:35-39 (emphasis mine) 
Crucified with Christ by Phillips Craig and Dean

-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate 

For 24 hour peer support, please call the Christ-Centered Mental Health ministry line at 567-343-3727 or email me at christmentalhealth@gmail.com Lydia Sarchet: mrssccmh@gmail.com Britton Garleb: britaingabriel@protonmail.com Joe Roman: Twiztedmembrain@gmail.com Scott AKA Johnny Kangaroo: scottsoconmhs@outlook.com Dwayne McLeod: psyconatics@gmail.com Veronica Talbot: vtalbot747@gmail.com Amber Williams: shayneedm18@gmail.com Chuck Ward: wcw50@aol.com Sarah Olivia: sarahjesseolivia@gmail.com Amber Marie: amarie0193@gmail.com Zachary Uram: Netrek@gmail.com Joseph McDermott: jpmlovesjesus@live.com
Roselyn Morgan  (Christian Counselor): RoselynMorgan53@yahoo.com Support the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry To Make A One Time Donation