Check out the featured post and read more here: https://www.ibelieve.com/health-beauty/can-faith-and-mental-health-co-exist.html
As a Christian mental health writer, I often get asked two questions on repeat:1. Are you a therapist?2. Is it truly possible to love Jesus and still have anxiety?
First, I want to be clear that I am not a therapist or counselor. I do have training in Master Christian Mental Health Coaching and have spent thousands of hours researching conditions like anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and PTSD. For the most part, however, I speak from experience—from the broken places of my home and within myself. Why? Because I want readers to feel seen and heard by someone who has been where they are now, and often still is.
Someday, God may call me to be a counselor or therapist. I have the highest respect for them and honor what they do. I’m open to that career if God leads me that way. But for now, I know that I don’t need credentials to talk about questions involving faith and mental health. I don’t need credentials to tell you that yes, it’s possible to love Jesus and still have anxiety.
According to the University of California, 1 in 3 young adults struggle with anxiety, and yet, less than 20 seek or find help in the Church because they perceive judgment. Why? Many Christians feel guilty for having anxiety, thinking it reflects weak faith. I have to wonder: Do you?
The Misunderstanding: Anxiety as a Faith Failure
While I wish it weren’t the case, sometimes Christians can be the cruelest people when it comes to anxiety intersecting with our faith. Common misconceptions spread like Gospel truth, and before we know it, we’re believing things that sound holy but aren’t found anywhere in the Scriptures. This includes beliefs like:
-Anxiety is a sin.
-If you trusted God more, you wouldn’t be anxious.
-Mental Health struggles are a lack of faith.
-Just read your Bible more, and you wouldn’t struggle.
Have you believed any of these lies? Have you been misunderstood? If you are, you’re not alone. Sadly, church culture sometimes reinforces shame unintentionally. They misapply Scriptures like Philippians 4:6 instead of understanding anxiety holistically and relationally in real life. So what are we to do? Let’s look at what Jesus and Scripture really say about these human struggles.
