MENTAL BALANCE
HOW TO CONTROL YOURSELF
Psalms 37:1-27
How do you maintain joy and peace in times like these? When the facts don't matter.
When the truth doesn't matter. When human life doesn't matter. How do you keep
yourself from being angry and upset when violence seems to be escalating? How
can you sleep well at night when violence is all around you?
In this country, there is the opinion that we are safer if everyone has a gun to
protect themselves. There is also the opinion that guns don’t kill people. People
with mental problems kill people.
According to the Bible, people have killed people since the beginning of mankind.
The only sure protector of you and me is God himself.
I am going to make a hypothesis and then attempt to prove it with the Word of
God.
MY HYPOTHESIS
I do not believe every act of violence is due to mental illness. I do not believe that
every mass murderer has a mental illness. I do not expect everyone to agree with me.
I believe many people have mental problems, and some lead to violence.
But every act of violence is not related to mental illness.
Let's go to where violence got its start in mankind. Violence started in the Garden of
Eden with the first marriage. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command by listening
to the most violent entity God created which was Satan. Disobedience is an act of
violence against God. The first marriage became dysfunctional and that dysfunction
was carried to the first children, Cain and Able.
My First Proof.
The first counseling section recorded in the Bible was between God and Cain. The
sin of Adam and Eve affected their children. The violence of Adam and Eve was
transferred to their sons.
Genesis 4:4-7
The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering, he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
Cain having full knowledge of right and wrong killed his younger brother. It was not mental illness, it was disobedience.
MY SECOND PROOF
Judas with full knowledge of right and wrong, betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and then hung himself. It was not a mental illness it was disobedience.
In both these cases and countless others throughout the Bible, violence against God and man is not mental illness, but disobedience. Man fails to master his anger. Man failed to control himself. Anger leads to rage and rage can lead to violent acts. Anger leads to irrational behavior.
MY THIRD PROOF
In Psalms 37, God gives us the method of controlling our mental attitude.
Anger is a defect in mental attitude that results from discontentment.
DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
V:1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
The Hebrew word for fret means to burn, to be kindled, to be inflamed
Don’t get inflamed, upset, or angry about the bad thing going on around you.
Notice, it is a choice one has to make. Anger wants to have you, I should say
Satan wants to have you. You have to master your anger.
Don’t get envious of what the world is doing. Don't let your mind get distracted from what God is doing. What is good for the world is not good for the believer. We are not of this world, therefore cannot compare ourselves to the world. Whatever prosperity the world has will be short-lived Like looking at a flower that blooms, its beauty will soon fade away.
Fretting is a complaint. The reason for the complaint is discontentment. The discontentment leads to envy or jealousy which leads to rage which leads to violent acts. The violent act can be controlled by mastering our anger.
Cain was advised by God to master his anger. He didn’t, so anger got control of him and
he killed his brother. Mental illness was not the problem.
PUT YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THE LORD
V:3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
We must cast our cares on the Lord. He knows best what we need.
The solution for fretting is trusting in the Lord.
We must cast our cares on the Lord. He knows best how to our circumstances.
The Lord gives the procedure for maintaining our contentment
Do good. Treat everybody right
Do Good; Do not give up, do not yield to fear. Do good; get to some
practical work for God; continue in the path of daily duty, take
spiritual exercise. (T. Spurgeon)
Stay where you are. Stay focused on the Lord.
Don’t lose faith because of the world’s problems
Enjoy the protection of the Lord. You must realize that it's God who keeps you.
Enjoy what you have. Be grateful
Delight yourself in the Lord
Give God praise continuously
The reward for contentment
Given the desires of your heart
FOLLOW GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS
V:5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Submit Yourself to the guidance and direction of the Lord
Roll your burden on to the Lord
Let the Lord handle your troubles so they become His.
When God has your burden He will not permit you to suffer.
When you give your problems over to God, don’t think about them. Don’t revisit the problems.
If you begin to fret, you know you have not let go. You never gave them to God.
Find your way to doing good. Because you do good, others will see your righteousness
WAIT PATIENTLY ON THE LORD
If you say you trust the Lord, you must trust His Way. You must trust His timing
You must trust His purpose
You must wait on God and act with anticipation and excitement
You must resolve to be peaceful when you see the evil men prosper
Know that those who commit evil against others have a false sense of accomplishment
which will end soon.
HANDLE YOUR EMOTIONS IN A GODLY MANNER
V:8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret — it leads only to evil. 9 For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. 11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
Our emotions are fueled by the way we think,
If we see things in a positive light, we will be peaceful
If we see things negative we will upset ourselves
If we see God in control, we live in confidence
Don't get angry. Don't seek revenge. Don't upset yourself
These three lead you to a desire to do evil. You must take control of the situation.
Go to God in prayer and allow Him to handle the situation according to His will.
Our prayers should be filled with patience with the Lord.
We get upset with God because we ignore the promise of God that the actions of the wicked will be short-lived. They will be put down in God's due time.
The solution to our evil temperament is to humble ourselves before the Lord and
wait for Him to act.
1 Peter 5:6-8
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be self-controlled and alert.
THE ACTIONS OF THE WICKED ARE A LAUGHING
MATTER
V:12 The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. 15 But their swords will pierce their hearts, and their bows will be broken.
Evil folk plans all kinds of stuff against you. They plot and plan to destroy you.
God laughs because evil men can do nothing but what He allows
Their end is near.
RIGHTEOUSNESS, YOUR BEST SITUATION
V:16 Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; 17 for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever.
Your best situation is contentment with what God has done, is doing, and will do for you.
To balance your mental attitude, control what you think about. Those who have negative thoughts inflame themselves. Those who have good thoughts find peace.
Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
A Balanced mental attitude does not rest with your stuff, your connections, your education, or the number of guns you have. A balance mental attitude is based on your relationship with God.
Rev. M. Mitchell
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