Sound Mind Week 2

Biological 

Psychological 

Social 

Spiritual 

Even strong people struggle some times.  

Cognitive Security

We built walls to protect our cities, developed locks to secure our homes, and created firewalls to guard our data. But what about protecting our minds?

Seasons

Exposure

Threats 

Impulses 

Isolation 

Insecurities 

1 Kings 19

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 

3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Impulses (Impulsive)

Are you running from something or to something?

What can cause me to be reactionary? 

KJV — And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

CJB — On seeing that, he got up and fled for his life. When he arrived in Be’er-Sheva, in Y’hudah, he left his servant there. 

Isolation

According to the Surgeon General we are facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation.

Without normal and predictable sleep patterns, sunlight, and relationships, the human mind begins to breakdown. 

Before God dealt with sin, He dealt with solitude. 

— Chris Hodges 

Matthew 26:37-38 

He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Insecurity / Comparisons 

Comparison is the death of joy. 

— Mark Twain 

Social comparisons can often trigger anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, particularly when you feel you fall short. 

Self-Rating — We define our self-worth based on what we have or what is currently happening in our life.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 — It is better to be satisfied with the few things you have than to always be struggling to get more.

The Curse Of Comparison

Comparison is the crush of conformity from one side and competition from the other – it’s trying to simultaneously fit in and stand out. Comparison says, ‘Be like everyone else, but better.’

— Brené Brown

Social media platforms — especially image-based platforms like Instagram — have very harmful effects on teen mental health, especially for teens struggling with body image, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. Social media algorithms can lead “vulnerable teens into a dangerous spiral of negative social comparison.”

— Harvard Study 

Galatians 6:4 — Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

Sound Mind Steps:

Impulsive — Breathe / Time / Rest 

Isolation — Connect / Community 

Insecurities — Who am I in Christ?