In the Garden of Eden, God’s original plan for Adam and Eve was to get to know him and to be known. It was God’s desire that we would be His friend. Adam and Eve had a choice to be God’s friend, but they ignored God’s plan and wanted to know it all and thought God was holding out on them. They wanted to become little God’s, they ignored God’s plan and suffered the natural consequences. God in his love and Grace had another plan.
So, if I am sinning by stealing from my neighbor, being physically, sexually, emotionally, verbally or spiritually abusive, lying, unforgiving, acting selfish, committing adultery—the reality is I am going to be impacted by these sinful behaviours and feel guilty, depressed, get low self-esteem, become anxious and shameful, etc.; yet it is not uncommon for these symptoms to be diagnosed as mental illness. The reality is our physical, spiritual, and mental wellbeing will be impacted and compromised to varying degrees.
Cognitive dissonance is basically this phenomenon whereby we have a natural drive for consistency, in that our belief system must be consistent with itself and it must be consistent with our actions but that consistency doesn’t always happen, and distress can arise as a result causing deep conflicts within ourselves which can come out in our lives in varying ways.
God’s word in John 14:6, Jesus Christ claimed that “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” We can have confidence that there is unity in truth. When we face those deepest truths within ourselves, acknowledge the deep conflicts of our behaviours and sinfulness, and measure them with God’s word…the truth will set us free. There is unity in truth with more harmony, peace, joy and the overall wellbeing in our lives will improve.
For mankind to experience healing, to grow, to mature and to get to know God and become His friend, we must pass through the crucible of suffering and pain. It cost God His Son and Christ His life so we can live and be reconciled to God. It is through salvation and reconciliation with God that brings lasting peace and joy. It is in our surrendering and yielding to God our behaviours, hurts, choices, thoughts in repentance that brings lasting change. We stop being defensive and blaming and humbly take responsibility. With true repentance our behaviour, thinking, awareness and relationships will change.
The same is true when someone loves, they will be loved back; when someone shows mercy, they will be shown mercy; when someone is caring, they will be cared for when in need. Our mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing will improve when we walk in truth where our behaviours are in line with God’s word. Like gravity these rules will apply.
It is only through Christ who took a human form, who came to earth, suffered, died and rose from the dead to sit at the righthand side of God that we can be reconciled and become friends and to have fellowship with God again. Christ was obedient and suffered greatly after being tempted in every way. As we connect and continue to strengthen our friendship with Him, we should aim to participate in His journey and carry our cross with love, devotion, and truthfulness.
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