The book definition of mental health refers to a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. As I combed through various statistics, I discovered there was an estimated 1.400,000 suicide attempts in 2015. This stat is shocking, making me wonder, what would cause so many people to think that death is better than life? There has to be more to mental health to explain this epidemic.
So I find it to be the law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully delight in the law of God in my inner self [with my new nature], 23 but I see a different law and rule of action in the members of my body [in its appetites and desires], waging war against the law of my mind and subduing me and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is within my members, Romans 7:21-23.
Last week there was a vigil at the STEM School in Highland Ranch, Colorado. Forced to cope with another school shooting, a gun control group known as Team Enough attempted to highjack this event for political purposes. As adults began to pontificate about banning guns, students walked outside of their school. While ambulance chasers inside started to make plans for overturning the second ammendment, students CHANTED the heart of this matter, MENTAL HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH.
Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]? 25 Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness, my sinful capacity—I serve] the law of sin, Romans 7:24-25.
Unfortunately, you won’t find the answers to America’s mental health crisis in public education. Nor will you find the cure to mental health in higher education. Why? Well, God was kicked out, banning the Bible and prayer as a daily part of education back in the 1960’s. As a former high school teacher, students are searching for the same thing the apostle Paul sought in Romans 7. Mental health is a battle for the hearts, minds and souls of human beings. Attempting this on your own will only result in failure. However, God sent Jesus to save mankind from a sinful nature that is out of control. The only way to unlock the key to mental health is through Jesus.
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 