Bible Passage: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…” (Philippians 3:8-9 ESV)
Scripture Reading: John 5:8; Galatians 5:22
After having strengthened their ability to tackle avoidance, accept pain, and uproot the lies that have continued to hurt them, there usually comes a point in therapeutic work where my clients ask, “What now?”
The process of facing our pain is cathartic and life-changing, but I’ve observed that it can be tempting for men to remain there. When we do, we become stuck again.
There comes a point when we have to follow Jesus’ instructions to the paralytic in John 5:8: “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
Again, a sound mind is one that’s able to move towards the direction of its values regardless of what’s going on inside us.
While the common misconception of mental health is that it’s defined by how happy or pleasant we feel, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy defines mental health by how well we’re able to live in accordance with what matters to us.
What matters the most to us is our values.
Values are distinct from goals. While goals have an endpoint, values are an ongoing direction.
They’re like a compass—they don’t exactly tell you where you’ll end up, but they will tell you which direction you need to begin walking.
In the biblical worldview, our “north star” is what the Apostle Paul emphatically describes here in Philippians 3:8-9: to know Christ Jesus.
No matter what pain he felt or what losses he had to endure, the Apostle Paul was driven by and determined to attain one thing. His one core value.
The Lord Jesus Himself.
As His disciples, we can say we have the sound mind the Apostle Paul describes when we’re able to continue pursuing the Lord, no matter how we feel.
We accept the reality of our internal experiences but commit to pursuing Him regardless. We don’t have to feel the right way before we begin to act in the right direction.
After confronting our difficult emotions, we redirect our thinking and feeling towards the active, committed pursuit of the Lord in prayer, worship, and obedient action.
When we do, we begin to live out the qualities that we most value and want to embody: love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
This is the fruit of the Spirit that Paul describes in Galatians 5:22: the fruit of a sound mind.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray that You would empower me to learn the twofold skills of a sound mind: to accept difficult emotions and to commit to the active pursuit of You. I pray You would reveal Yourself to me as my greatest value, and show me the unshakeable joy of pursuing You. Amen.
Reflection: Do you ever feel the pull to fall back into difficult emotions once they’ve been uncovered? What does it look and feel like to pursue your greatest values no matter what you feel?
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