Genesis 3:12 NLT
[12] “The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

It all began in the garden of Eden, this refusal to take responsibility for doing wrong! It’s also a disease so universal that EVERYONE tries to wriggle out of taking responsibility by blaming someone or something else. This attitude is embedded in the nature we inherited from Adam.

This “blame game” is also responsible for an entire industry in the medical field. This “industry” falls under the category of “disorders”, medical diagnoses treatable by therapy and medication! Now, not every disorder is incorrectly diagnosed. Some disorders are triggered by crises or unfortunate circumstances, for example, flashbacks that happen after some traumatic experience.

However, there are many disorders that are self-inflicted. Many mental health issues happen when people refuse to take responsibility for their bad behaviour. Instead of owning up and putting right, they hide behind what mother/father/sibling/teacher/friend…did to them twenty, thirty, forty years ago.

The real diagnosis is a “victim mentality”, for which doctors and medication have no cure. Strangely enough, the Bible calls mental illness “sin”. Why is it sin? Sin is the fruit of unbelief. Unbelief in what?

God created humans to live in union with Him. We are His offspring, created in His image. He is in charge of every detail of our lives and takes responsibility for us if we trust Him.

Acts of the Apostles 17:25-26, 28 NLT
[25]”…He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. [26] From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries…
[28] For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “

He is our life-source. Living in harmony with God and His ways provides peace, protection, and provision, and dispels worry and anxiety. Through our ongoing trust in Jesus who gives us access to the Father by His death, we can experience every situation in life, good or bad, in the confidence that God allows or does nothing in our lives outside of His perfect love. Nothing can separate us from His love.

Such confidence, called faith in Jesus, allows us to live “care-free lives in the care of God”. When issues arise, we can turn to Him for help and solutions instead of blaming someone else for our troubles.

Trouble is that most people in the world throughout the ages have decided to leave God out of their lives. They treat Him as an enemy, run from Him, and try to manage their lives without Him. The result is a mess. To use an age-old expression, “they fly by the seat of their pants.”

(Some people go so far as to dabble in the forbidden realm of evil spirits. Unfortunately, Satan messes with their brains when they are hooked. No this is a real problem when it comes to mental health. They can be and some are given over to the complete control of evil spirits leading to bizarre and seriously criminal behaviour).

Playing the “blame game” robs people of real-life solutions. If therapy and medication do not fix the “disorders” sin produces…and by sin I mean the things people think, say, and do to suit themselves that produce fear, guilt, and shame, is there any real solution?

Humans complicate what God has made simple. His medical textbook, the Bible, has the only real, effective solutions because He made us and He wrote the book.

What must we do with the sin that produces guilt, shame, and fear?

1 John 1:8-9 NLT
[8] “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. [9] But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

Blaming someone else for what we have said or done won’t cut it. Coming clean with God is the only effective solution. This means taking responsibility! “Yes, God you are right. I said it, I did it, I am guilty as charged.” That’s simple enough, isn’t it? The only cost to us is the humility to admit our guilt and the honesty to take responsibility for what we did.

God’s response to our confession is astonishing. Three things happen when we take responsibility.

1. We acknowledge God. We acknowledge that we are accountable to Him for our behaviour. “If we confess our sins to Him…”
2. We call our behaviour what it is…sin! Not mistakes, not blunders, not anything else but…sin, and sin is always against God first, whoever we might harm by our actions.

Psalms 51:4 NLT
[4] “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.”

1. God responds to our honest confession by wiping the slate clean. He forgives, cleanses, and chooses to forget what we have done.

Isaiah 43:25 NLT
[25] “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

Think of that! When God has finished with your sin, you can start again, no past to haunt you!

What must we do with the emotions sin produces?

Paul has another simple solution.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
[6]”Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and THANK HIM for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Worry and anxiety are also part of the sin we must confess. Worry and anxiety block our way to the Father. We must get rid of them through honest confession. Again, “come clean with God.” These emotions are also the fruit of unbelief.

Thanksgiving is a powerful way to melt worry and anxiety. We neutralise our worries when we focus on God’s goodness and faithfulness. God will always do the best for us. God will always keep His promises. Thanksgiving re-establishes our trust in God which produces a new emotion…PEACE.

Worry and anxiety cannot coexist with God’s peace. When we offload our worry and anxiety on Him, He replaces them with His peace, a powerful safeguard against the effects of trouble and adversity.

The differences between human efforts and God’s way to treat these “disorders” are twofold.

1. Human solutions are complicated and ineffective. All the therapy and medication in the world can never deal with sin.

God’s solution is simple and fool-proof. Confess your sin and God will forgive you, cleanse you, and forget everything you ever did.

1. Human solutions are long-term and expensive, requiring possible hospitalisation in a psychiatric facility or many sessions with a therapist plus months of expensive medication…all to no avail.

God’s way costs no money. Confession and repentance only need honesty and humility; thanksgiving transforms the mind and attitude, and the results are instantaneous, outstanding, and permanent.

So…

John 8:31-32, 34-36 NLT
[31]”Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. [32] And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…
[34] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. [35] A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

So, what’s the problem? Why not believe what Jesus said, do what He says, and enjoy a life of peace and the inner freedom that comes from not having to carry the burden of guilt, shame, and fear that sin lays on us!