S9.2 | Faith, Therapy, and Medication: A Christian Approach to Mental Health
Today, we're tackling a somewhat controversial yet vital topic within the Christian community—therapy, medicine and mental health. Carla dives deep into her own experiences and Scriptural insights to affirm that seeking therapeutic and medical support is not contradictory to a life rooted in faith. Drawing wisdom from the Bible, including examples from Paul and Elijah, Carla makes a compelling case for integrating medical advice and spiritual practice. Join her as she sheds light on the importance of addressing our mental health needs with grace and wisdom, ensuring we can fully participate in the purpose God has for us. Don't miss this crucial conversation!
Did you know that Carla is a Christian Mental Health coach?
See if working with her is what you need in your current season.
Book a discovery call today!
Key Takeaways
Integration of Faith and Mental Health SupporT:
Carla emphasizes that prayer and medical intervention are not mutually exclusive. Trusting in God does not negate the value of seeking therapeutic or medical help for mental health issues.
Biblical Context and Modern Medicine:
The Bible should be understood for its spiritual guidance, not as a medical manual. Carla explains that the Bible was written in a specific historical context where many medical conditions and treatments we know today were not documented.
Wisdom from Scripture:
Highlighting verses like 1 Timothy 5:23, Carla illustrates that the Bible does provide indications that using available medical knowledge is not a lack of faith but a wise course of action.
Rejection of Works-Based Faith:
Carla speaks against the notion that mental health struggles are a result of unrepentant sin or lack of faith. This perspective often leads to a works-based approach to faith, which is contrary to the grace-centered message of the Bible.
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Renewing Hope Course —-> https://www.carlaarges.com/renewing-hope
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
Resources:
5 Steps to Building Resiliency
Affirming Truths Facebook Community
5 Tips for Overcoming a Negative Body Image
Who You Say I Am Biblical Affirmation Cards
TRANSCRIPT
Carla Arges [00:00:08]:
Hey friends, welcome to affirming truths. I'm your friend and host, Carla Arges. This show is a safe place to share our struggles, grow in faith, and root our identity in Christ. My hope is that you will leave each episode feeling encouraged in your journey. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Carla Arges [00:00:27]:
And it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review.
Carla Arges [00:00:30]:
I am so glad you're here. Let's get started. Hey friends, welcome to another episode of affirming Truth.
Carla Arges [00:00:40]:
Before we dive into it, I want you to be aware that I have a couple of openings for my one in one coaching. If you are looking to master those big emotions that are coming from your mental health issues or from trauma, this.
Carla Arges [00:00:58]:
Is a place where you can work on healing the trauma, rooting your identity.
Carla Arges [00:01:04]:
In Christ, getting freedom from the overwhelm of your emotions, and learning to live with joy and ease and peace regardless of your circumstance. So if that is something that would benefit you right now, book a discovery.
Carla Arges [00:01:20]:
Call with me so we can chat about it.
Carla Arges [00:01:22]:
The link to book the discovery call is in the show notes and is always on my website, carlaarges.com dot. Okay, I recently had a real go viral on instagram and what I was sharing what was or is unfortunately a controversial opinion. And the real said, you know, sometimes we need more than just prayer in dealing with our mental illness and overcoming trauma. Does God heal based on prayer?
Carla Arges [00:02:01]:
Absolutely. 100% he can. He does.
Carla Arges [00:02:05]:
In my experience. When it comes to moving through trauma and when it comes to mental illness.
Carla Arges [00:02:11]:
Does he often supernaturally intercede?
Carla Arges [00:02:16]:
In my experience, no. In my experience, instead he blesses us.
Carla Arges [00:02:22]:
With grace and mercy and provision through.
Carla Arges [00:02:25]:
Through things like therapists, coaches, hi. Medication if needed to help us be healed. Productive warriors for the kingdom. And in this reel, I was getting people that want receipts. Give me a bible verse where that is true. Give me a scripture reference. All the scriptures just say prayer. Take it to God.
Carla Arges [00:02:51]:
God is our healer. And I want to dive into that.
Carla Arges [00:02:56]:
A little bit with you today because I think some of you have probably.
Carla Arges [00:03:00]:
Been spiritually burdened when you've gone to a therapist or when you've used medication. I know from my own experience in the church early on that I did get spiritually burdened.
Carla Arges [00:03:13]:
I was asked if I had sin in my life, unrepentant sin.
Carla Arges [00:03:17]:
I was asked if I was like.
Carla Arges [00:03:19]:
Praying enough, did I have enough faith, right?
Carla Arges [00:03:22]:
And really early on it spiritually burned.
Carla Arges [00:03:26]:
Me and had me question my faith and wonder if I was just not doing it good enough. Right.
Carla Arges [00:03:33]:
And doesn't that just bring us to a works based faith?
Carla Arges [00:03:38]:
If I just pray more, if I.
Carla Arges [00:03:40]:
Just do this more, if I just.
Carla Arges [00:03:41]:
Perform more, then I'll get God's attention.
Carla Arges [00:03:45]:
I've learned so much along the way and really deeply rooted my identity in Christ that I'm no longer shaken by this. But I wanted to address the fact where people say, show me the scripture. Show me the scripture where it's okay to use a therapist or it's okay to take an SSRI or another type of medication. Show me. And I want us to really understand what the Bible is, what it's used for, and the time and place that it was written. So, first and foremost, the Bible is here to reveal Christ. The Bible is here to reveal who God is, to reveal the redemption plan, and to make us aware of our need for redemption. That is the purpose of the Bible.
Carla Arges [00:04:33]:
We know that it says in the Bible that scripture is used for reproof and correction.
Carla Arges [00:04:39]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:04:39]:
The Bible is used as part of our sanctification journey and to convict us and to call us into righteous living and to give us guidance spiritually on how to live. That is the purpose of the Bible. The Bible is not a medical guide.
Carla Arges [00:04:54]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:04:55]:
You're not going to find in the.
Carla Arges [00:04:57]:
Bible, thou shalt take insulin when you have diabetes.
Carla Arges [00:05:01]:
Right?
Carla Arges [00:05:02]:
First of all, they didn't know about diabetes.
Carla Arges [00:05:04]:
Right?
Carla Arges [00:05:04]:
So we also have to understand the context and the history and where they were at. They didn't know about diabetes. Insulin hadn't been invented.
Carla Arges [00:05:14]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:05:15]:
You're not going to see a verse that says, thou shalt take your baby to the doctor when it has a temperature of 104. The Bible was not meant to be a medical guide. The Bible was meant to be a spiritual guide. However, God, being so good, has dropped tiny crumbs here and there that showcase the need for medical intervention and that it's okay to avail ourselves of the medicine of our day and age, that that is not a lack of faith.
Carla Arges [00:05:51]:
Right. And again, therapy, medication is never meant.
Carla Arges [00:05:56]:
To replace spiritual disciplines. And I think sometimes christians hear that if I say it's okay to go to therapy, they're hearing, don't pray. Or if I say it's okay to take medication if you need it, to.
Carla Arges [00:06:08]:
Help your brain function, to learn the.
Carla Arges [00:06:10]:
Coping skills, and to get through the trauma healing. They're hearing me say, abandon your Bible, which is so faulty. If you are a Christian, you need spiritual disciplines, regardless if you have mental health, physical health, if you're perfect prayer, daily prayer should always be a part of your life. Daily Bible reading, not just devotions, friends. Bible reading needs to be a part of your everyday life. If you struggle in this area, I have a course, Bible study 101, that.
Carla Arges [00:06:46]:
Can help teach you how to study the Bible correctly.
Carla Arges [00:06:50]:
That's on my website. You should be going to a healthy, spirit led church. None of those things should be abandoned. And we never assume that they are when someone is getting medical help for a physical, visible physical ailment.
Carla Arges [00:07:09]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:07:10]:
We don't see people when they are going to get chemotherapy. Do you have sin in your life?
Carla Arges [00:07:16]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:07:16]:
We don't see that. And there's this lack of critical thinking.
Carla Arges [00:07:21]:
That somehow doesn't apply when it's mental health.
Carla Arges [00:07:25]:
And a lot of that is just not a lot of awareness, like mental.
Carla Arges [00:07:29]:
Health, things functionally happen to the brain.
Carla Arges [00:07:33]:
Right. There's a certain ideal way that the brain should be wired and working. And when we have trauma, those ideal ways get interrupted.
Carla Arges [00:07:44]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:07:45]:
Parts of the brain go offline when.
Carla Arges [00:07:47]:
We have mental illness is usually a brain issue. Why?
Carla Arges [00:07:51]:
Whether it's chemical, whether it's wiring, all of those things.
Carla Arges [00:07:55]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:07:55]:
So the actual organ is effective, affected, and there's hope and healing for that because the organ can be rewired. Right. The organ can be supported in chemical balance through different medications, nutrition, movement.
Carla Arges [00:08:13]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:08:14]:
So it's not to say that we abandon our spiritual disciplines. No. If anything, we should be more pressed into them when we're struggling. But I wanted to give you an example of a beautiful little scripture that God dropped into the Bible to show us that we can use wisdom when it comes to our health.
Carla Arges [00:08:40]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:08:41]:
And I'm going to take us to first Timothy 523. And this verse is so out of place. Like when you're reading the scripture and you want to get context, you should read the scriptures before it, after it, get the whole chapter, get a sense. This scripture seems to be out of nowhere. It doesn't seem to connect to anything. And there are some scholars that believe in Paul's letter to Timothy. This was actually written in the margin. And then when the Bible was created, when the scripture was created, they just took it from the place in the margin and stuck it into the main context of the letter.
Carla Arges [00:09:21]:
So this is why a lot of scholars believe this is just randomly thrown in there. And what it says is stop drinking only water and use a little wine because of your stomach and frequent illnesses. So this is Paul talking to Timothy. Now, Paul has been a spiritual mentor to Timothy. Timothy would have known. Yes, for your stomach illnesses and frequent illnesses. Bring it to the Lord in prayer.
Carla Arges [00:09:49]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:09:50]:
Timothy was well disciplined in his spiritual practices and walking after the Lord, so much so even that he did not drink any alcohol. Part of that was following some of the more stricter rules of the time where priests wouldn't drink until they were age 30. And we know Timothy was a young preacher. And so here we have a situation where Timothy is frequently getting ill, right? And this is happening because of the drinking water. We know, we see this in developing countries now, where there's not clean drinking water. It leads to a lot of sickness. So the medical advice of that time, based on the medical equipment that they had, was to mix wine with their water to kill the bacteria to make the water safer for drinking. So here is Paul saying, don't abstain from the wine.
Carla Arges [00:10:51]:
Mix the little wine in with your water, and it will help your frequent stomach illnesses. And we know Luke was a physician.
Carla Arges [00:11:00]:
And often traveled with Paul.
Carla Arges [00:11:02]:
So this may have actually been advice from Luke that Paul is passing on. You see, God needed Timothy as healthy and whole as possible so he could carry the mantle that he was given in his ministry. The same is true for you, okay?
Carla Arges [00:11:20]:
God needs you healthy and whole so.
Carla Arges [00:11:24]:
That you can do the kingdom work he has planned for you. If you do not care for your.
Carla Arges [00:11:31]:
Mental health needs, you are not going.
Carla Arges [00:11:34]:
To be in a position to walk out that purpose. And Timothy, Paul knew that. Paul didn't say pray for your stomach illnesses. Paul knew. Timothy was already doing that. Paul gave him medical advice on how to treat his illness.
Carla Arges [00:11:59]:
What a beautiful example.
Carla Arges [00:12:01]:
And a little sort of p's, by the way, medicine is okay. Medical advice is okay. Medical council is okay, and it's coming from Paul himself. What beautiful reassurance. See, God didn't have to include that in scripture.
Carla Arges [00:12:20]:
Right?
Carla Arges [00:12:20]:
Again, the scripture is not about giving medical advice. The scripture is not about giving advice on whether to buy house a or house b.
Carla Arges [00:12:29]:
Right?
Carla Arges [00:12:31]:
But God gave us wisdom. And here is an example of Paul.
Carla Arges [00:12:37]:
Using wisdom and telling Timothy, avail yourself.
Carla Arges [00:12:41]:
Of the medicine and the medical advice that is available to us at this.
Carla Arges [00:12:46]:
Time so that you can stop getting sick and you can be better positioned to do God's work. Luke traveled with Paul. Are you telling me Paul never used medical advice from Luke? You're telling me Paul never got sick? Are you telling me Paul never had a need that Luke didn't intend to? Of course he did. That's just common sense. Right? I want to take us to another example here. In one, kings 19, five, seven, we see Elijah and we see he is depressed. Okay? Now Elijah is just coming off this bold prayer, this bold confrontation with the priests of Baal, showcasing that our God, Yahweh, is the one true God. He's coming off of this, of this strong, bold role as prophet.
Carla Arges [00:13:44]:
And then queen Jezebel threatens to kill.
Carla Arges [00:13:47]:
Him and he runs away and he gets depressed. He gets so depressed that he prayers. He prays for death. Fear has gripped him. The prospect of being a failure has gripped him like he is a prophet meant to guide Israel. And here is Israel falling into idolatry again and abandoning their covenant with God. He feels like a failure. He's tired.
Carla Arges [00:14:16]:
He's tired. He's just been battling so much. And now on the run, we know all these things together and make us feel depressed. And so he prays and he takes a nap, and God sends an angel to visit him. And I want you to recognize that the angel did not chastise him for a lack of faith. Elijah's faith was shaken right? Now. He did not chastise him for a lack of faith.
Carla Arges [00:14:49]:
The angel did not come and, like, cast a spirit of depression out of Elijah. Guys, we have the Holy Spirit in us.
Carla Arges [00:14:57]:
He does not share space.
Carla Arges [00:14:59]:
You are not possessed. He did not come and berate him.
Carla Arges [00:15:06]:
For not praying hard enough. He actually came and told him to eat something.
Carla Arges [00:15:13]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:15:14]:
That in a lot of ways, is therapeutic advice. You may have heard me talk about my four pillars of thriving, right? In order to maintain our mental stability.
Carla Arges [00:15:26]:
In order to support us as we go through trauma and as good practices.
Carla Arges [00:15:31]:
In general, in order to be effective to the call that Christ has on our life. Those four pillars are renewing our mind, which is getting in the word. It's moving our body. It's fueling our body, and it's resting our body. See, God knew Elijah had a physical need that was making his feelings of depression even worse. And so the angel fed him more than once. He fed him. Right.
Carla Arges [00:16:06]:
And when Elijah had been strengthened again, then he sent him on his way to continue to do his work. In a lot of cases, that's therapeutic advice, taking care of the physical need. When we're going through trauma, we have physical need. Our nervous system is dysregulated. Our brain is not functioning properly. When we have mental illness, we have physical need. God met Elijah's physical need to help support him in feeling depressed. And like I said, we know Luke was a physician.
Carla Arges [00:16:44]:
There is no indication in scripture that he changed his vocation. Oh.
Carla Arges [00:16:49]:
In the kingdom of God on this side of heaven, there's no need for doctors. We're just meant to pray everything away. No, there's no indication. There's every indication, though, that Luke supported Paul and supported the disciples around Paul.
Carla Arges [00:17:07]:
With his advice and counsel. And so I want to encourage you.
Carla Arges [00:17:11]:
Today, if you have ever been told, oh, it's not biblical to seek medical advice. It's not biblical to go to therapy or take medication. I want you to remember the Bible wasn't there as a medical advice. The Bible was there for spiritual advice. God gave us wisdom, the wisdom to know when our leg is broken, we go to a doctor to fix it.
Carla Arges [00:17:37]:
We don't need a scripture for that.
Carla Arges [00:17:39]:
Wisdom to know that when our brain is not working properly and we don't know what to do with these big, overwhelming emotions, that we go to someone who can help us.
Carla Arges [00:17:50]:
That is wise counsel. Okay?
Carla Arges [00:17:54]:
And so my affirming truth for you today is in prayer and with Holy Spirit wisdom, I can confidently seek therapeutic and medical support.
Carla Arges [00:18:06]:
And in proverbs 1920, we read, listen.
Carla Arges [00:18:10]:
To advice and accept instruction that you.
Carla Arges [00:18:13]:
May gain wisdom in the future. Listen to advice. Yes, of course.
Carla Arges [00:18:21]:
We want to make sure the advice is coming from someone worthy of our trust. We want to make sure the advice is coming from someone with expertise and authority and where we're looking for advice.
Carla Arges [00:18:32]:
Right.
Carla Arges [00:18:33]:
We're not going to go to a mechanic for advice on law. We're not going to go to a tax accountant on advice for our car.
Carla Arges [00:18:43]:
Right?
Carla Arges [00:18:44]:
So make sure you're going to the.
Carla Arges [00:18:45]:
Right source, the right authority, the right expertise. But it is wise to listen to advice and accept instruction.
Carla Arges [00:18:54]:
God wants you to be healthy and whole. He has purpose for you to do in the kingdom. It's time to do it.
Carla Arges [00:19:00]:
It's time to stop denying the resources and the helps that he has brought in front of you.
Carla Arges [00:19:08]:
Right? Don't reject wise counsel, friends.
Carla Arges [00:19:15]:
That's my counsel for you today.
Carla Arges [00:19:18]:
I'll talk to you later.
Carla Arges [00:19:25]:
Thanks for joining me today. I hope we're already friends on social media, but if we're not, come find me on Instagram, arlaarges or at affirming truth. Can't wait to see you back here next week. Bye, friends.