Luke 7:33-35
“For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
In 2008, after surviving some humiliating and expensive mood swings, I knew something more than just depression was going on. I spent some time researching mental illness, and specifically bipolar disorder, and then made an appointment with a psychiatrist. Once I was diagnosed, I worked with my psychiatrist to find the right medication, and I’ve been on that medication ever since. And my life has truly changed for the better.
But medication cannot cure mental illness. It can only help us manage our symptoms. For some, medication is enough. For others, like me, it wasn’t. I still lived every day depressed. It just wasn’t severe enough to keep me from going to work and taking care of basic life functions. And I still sometimes struggled with dysphoric mania, a mixed state of high energy but low mood. Even with all the progress I’d made, I was still just surviving.
Recovery programs – first Overeaters Anonymous, then Celebrate Recovery (CR) – began drawing me closer to God in 2009. In early 2015, God’s Wisdom for me was to participate in a second CR Step Study, listen to Bible teachings every day on my way to work, and start avoiding refined sugar and simple carbs. His Wisdom was proven right seven months later when I had a week and a half of no depression. Since then, He has led me to do other things, and I have continued to improve.
I believe that Celebrate Recovery can help everyone. And I believe that refined sugar and simple carbs can contribute to inflammation that aggravates mental illness. But I can’t tell you what God’s Wisdom looks like for you.
I can only tell you where to find it.
Joshua 1:8
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
It takes daily study to plant His Word in our hearts. And it takes daily commitment to then follow through and act on the Wisdom we receive.
James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
It has worked for me. I’ve been completely free of depression and bipolar disorder since February 2016. But God’s Word will work for you just as well as it did for me.
Acts 10:34-35 NLT
Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.
God’s Wisdom for mental health may look different for you than it does for me. But He does have a plan. His Wisdom is available to anyone who seeks for it.
Proverbs 2:6-8
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
As you’ve read these verses, what is the main thing that has come to your mind? It’s probably God’s Wisdom, and it’s probably worth further investigation.
Final image: Maria M. Johnson, Left photo: Tookapic, Right photo: braetschit
God's Word For Mental Health 
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