The Bible & Emotional Health
Answer the following as you read Healing for Damaged Emotions by David A. Seamands
1
Damaged Emotions
- In 1966 the author, David A. Seamands preached a sermon called “The and the of Our ”.
- Somewhere between our sins, on the one hand, and our sicknesses, on the other, lies an area the Scripture calls “”.
- Isn’t it true that by their ye shall know them? (Matthew 7:16) Yes, but it is also true that by their you shall understand, and not them.
- What is one the most common damaged emotions?
- The perfectionist complex says “I can never quite .”
- Why did the wife of the author’s minister friend ask him to counsel her husband? He had just a nervous .
- There is another kind of damaged emotion that we can call . The supersensitive person has usually been .
- There are the people who are filled with . Perhaps the greatest of them all is the fear of .
- We Americans have been weaned on , indecency, and , we are living in a modern .
- Many of the modern translations use or in place of the word infirmities.
- What are the general, biblical principles the author suggests to follow throughout in order to find healing for damaged emotions?
your problem .
your in the matter.
yourself if you to be .
everyone who is in your problem.
yourself.
Ask the to show you what your real is, and how you need to . - You will never receive healing for your damaged emotions until they stop everyone else and your .
- Jesus made it very plain that no healing occurs until there is deep .
- Sometimes the Holy Spirit uses a temporary assistant in the form of a , who can help us to perceive what the real problem is.
2
Guilt, Grace, and Debt-Collecting
- was the only normal and perfectly sane Person who has ever lived.
- The and person is plagued with guilt and resentment.
- One of the biblical descriptions of sin is “violation of .”
- What are the two major causes of most emotional problems among evangelical Christians?
The failure to , receive, and out God’s unconditional and .
The failure to out that unconditional , forgiveness, and to other people. - The failure to see and know and feel grace drives many Christians to the tragic treadmill of , achieving, and .
- When Christian’s fail to accept and receive God’s and , they also fail to give unconditional , forgiveness, and to other people.
- Many people fail to allow God to do for them what only God can do.
- List the three tests Mr. Seamands suggests taking to see if you need to forgive someone.
The test
The test
The and test - In many instances, extending to someone else and assuming for yourself are two sides of the same coin, and can only be done together.
- In Jesus’ words, “Freely you have received, freely ,” the root word for gift is used times, so that it literally says “Giftwise you have been given, giftwise !” (Matthew 10:8)
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The Wounded Healer
- The common New Testament word for is the negative form of *sthenos* which means “strength.”
- The Book of is more like the Book of Leviticus than any other book in the New Testament, and shows that the sacrificial system outlined in Leviticus finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, our .
- Of all the words for the Incarnation, the greatest title is , “God with us.”
- One man believes high school is often such a traumatic experience that he’s written a book called ?
- Studies show that the two greatest stress-producing factors to body, mind, and emotions are the of a spouse and .
- To say, as do the ancient creeds, that Christ descended into means that Jesus Christ has entered into every one of the , terrors, and that you and I can experience at our lowest moments of , forsakeness, and .
- In His full identification with our humanity, and especially on that , He took unto Himself the entire range of our . And He bore the feeling of our , that we would not have to bear them .
- The fact that God not only knows and cares, but fully is the most factor in the healing of our damaged emotions.
4
Satan’s Deadliest Weapon
- The Bible doesn’t speak as much of the power of Satan as of his extreme , trickery, and .
- What is the most powerful psychological weapon that Satan uses to defeat some Christians?
- List four ways that Satan uses this deadliest of all of his emotional and psychological weapons, to bring defeat and failure into Christian’s life.
Low self-esteem your .
Low self-esteem your .
Low self-esteem your .
Low self-esteem your Christian . - In a poll that Dr. James Dobson took, percent of women rated low self-esteem in their top three reasons for depression.
- We can’t live in our dreams, we can’t live on our dreams, but we do live our dreams.
- Once a person becomes critical of the , it isn’t long until they feel resentful toward the .
- Satan uses your nagging sense of and to isolate you.
- A person who has low self-esteem, asks another human being to do what no other person can do—to make them feel and when they are already convinced that they are and .
- Nothing sabotages service more than thinking so little of oneself that you never really give a chance.
5
Healing Our Low Self-Esteem—Part 1
- A famous plastic surgeon, Dr. Maxwell , wrote a best-selling book, New —New .
- In 1960 Dr. Maltz wrote his best-seller, . .
- The way you look at yourself and feel about yourself, way down deep in the of your —so you will be and so you will .
- Dr. Maurice Wagner, a professional , in his excellent book *The Sensation of Being Somebody*, explains the three essential components of a healthy . .
- List the three components.
A sense of , of being .
A sense of and .
A sense of being . - There are four sources of self-image, four factors which help a person construct self-image: the world, the inner world, with all the forces of evil, and God and His Word.
- Our pictures and our feelings about ourselves come largely from the pictures and the feelings we see reflected in our members—what we watch in their , hear from the tone in their voices, and see from their .
- If a child is convinced of , he will place little value on what he says or does. If he is programmed for incompetence, he will be .
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Healing Our Low Self-Esteem—Part 2
- A person’s . is a system of feelings and concepts he has constructed about himself.
- We are victims of a basic tendency toward , a proclivity toward the wrong. We call it sin.
- “Children are the world’s greatest , but they are the world’s worst .”
- Satan uses our feelings of - as a terrible weapon in three roles that he plays. Satan is a (John 8:44), the (Rev. 12:10), and the one who our minds (2 Corinthians. 4:4).
- The truth is that self-belitting is not true Christian and runs counter to some very basic teachings of the faith.
- Someone cannot really love others when they need to prove their own self-worth.
- Develop the picture of your worth and value from , not from the false reflections that come out of your .
- You are to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (). The verbs in this verse represent action, and the word mind describes the way you , the way you look at life as a daily process.
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Symptoms of Perfectionism
- Perfectionism is a counterfeit for Christian , holiness, , or the Spirit-filled life.
- What are the symptoms of perfectionism?
of the
- If a person is never quite satisfied with themself and their , then the next step is quite natural: is never really pleased with them either.
- The conscience and comprehensive guilt of the perfectionist are usually accompanied by a great scrupulosity and which rigidly overemphasize , do’s and don’ts, and regulations.
- The Jerusalem legalists and the Colossian ascetics produced the Galatian , the Galatian .
- Under the stress and the strain of trying to live with a self he can’t , a God he can’t , and other people he can’t get with, the strain can become too much. And one of two things can happen: either there is a or a .
- There is only one ultimate cure for perfectionism: it is as profound and yet as simple as the word .
- In the New Testament the word grace has a special meaning: “freely given, , unmerited, , and unrepayable favor.”
- “Come unto Me,” said Jesus, “all ye that and are heavy laden, and I will give you ” (Matthew 11:28).
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The Process of Healing for Perfectionism
- The perfectionist almost has to feel , if for nothing else, not feeling about something!
- You will need healing of your with its distorted concepts, healing of your with their damaged emotions, healing of your with its downgrading evaluations, and healing of your with all of their disruptive contradictions.
- In the Bible the word grace is always woven into the presence of the of grace.
- Most of us developed our feelings about our heavenly Father from our mothers and fathers, and these feelings become so intertwined and .
- Unpleasable parents and conditional love produce goals and standards.
- If parents cannot control their own , a child never knows what kind of he is going to get from them.
- The author states that he has yet to deal with a person troubled by perfectionistic emotional problems who was not very about something.
- The healing process must include the courage to unmask the , bring it out before God, and put it on the where it belongs.
- The place of healing for the damaged person is the —the very peak of all injustice.
- The truth of life in this world came out in the of the Son of God.
- As we take and eat of the body, from His brokenness we receive and for our brokenness.
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Super You or Real You?
- Perhaps the most terrible consequence of perfectionism is alienation from the self.
- Super You is a false idealized image one thinks they have to be in order to be and .
- One emotion that Super You generally considers bad is .
- Many times, and anger go hand in hand; indeed, the anger is the result of .
- Many marriages are being destroyed because partners have not learned how to properly express their .
- While you cannot work with everybody, that doesn’t mean you have the right to anyone.
- Happiness depends on , on what happens to us, that we can’t control.
- Joy is an word which has to do with relationships, not , not happenings.
- Super You is an illusion of one’s , a false image, an .
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Myths and Truths About Depression
- is a common experience among Christians.
- Before a person can deal with depression, he must it.
- Depression seems to be nature’s kickback.
- A , specific feeling of guilt which can be related to a particular, precise or is generally a true and reliable feeling of guilt.
- A , all-inclusive umbrella of systematic self-accusation, general overall feelings of anxiety and condemnation which cannot be these are generally signs of or just plain that has come from emotional sources.
- The new birth does not change a person’s basic . It can put within a person, as Oswald Chambers loves to say, “the of Jesus Christ,” but it does not change one’s basic .
- Both our feelings and our operate through the same personality equipment.
- Satan wants to turn the natural mood of depression into spiritual , doubt, and .
- The first step in learning to live above is to accept yourself as you are.
- The steadfast of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.
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Dealing with Depression
- There are Christians who consistently neglect the area of their lives and then wonder why they are depressed.
- The things that to someone are not as important as the ways one responds to those events.
- What are the three primary reactions that lead to depression?
A of or - The most concise definition of depression is “ is frozen .”
- The only answer to deep anger against the injustices of life is .
- So many people need to God, not because He has ever done anything wrong, but because they have held Him .
- When someone surrenders their and to injustice and unfairness, they won’t have trouble with self-pity, and their will lesson immediately.
- Martin Luther had a constant battle with low - and .
- List Luther and Seamands suggestions to combat low self-esteem and depression.
Avoid being
Seek from
! Make
and give
Lean on the power of
Rest in the presence of - God can use any portion of the to minister to you during times of depression, but throughout the centuries His people have found the to be the most beneficial.
- Jesus’ favorite word for His promised presence in the Holy Spirit is —“the One called alongside.”
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Healed Helpers
- There is no place in Scripture that deals with God’s recycling more profoundly or beautifully than Romans 8:18-28.
- If we were able to trace all human damages and hurts, we would find that ultimately they are the result of someone’s , perhaps even generations back.
- Because Christ is the , because He does fully understand, when He got ready to leave this world, He promised that He would not leave His friends , but would come to them by sending the , the Paraclete. Para means “,” and kaleo means “.”
- What is the good news of the Gospel for people with damaged emotions?
God us, not because we are , but because we His in order to be .
, our High Priest, bore our and our , not because we are , but because we His and in order to be .
The offers us His continuous enabling and , not because we are , but because we Him in order to be . - Only the Holy Spirit truly knows the of God. And only the Holy Spirit truly us.
- God does not change the actual, factual nature of the which occurs. But God can change the of it for your total life.
- Why did Betty and her husband go to counseling? Betty had an increasing sense of because her parents had been forced to get because her mother was with . It was an marriage and Betty had been .
- Paul claimed that there are only two things we can glory in. The first is the of (Galatians 6:14), and the other is our , or (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
- Because God’s strength is made perfect in our . As Christians we are called to be healed , moving not out of strength, but out of .
Answer the following questions while reading
“Adjust or Self-Destruct”
by Craig Massey
Inner Conflict
- Match the following
A. disobeyed the Lord
B. drank himself into a stupor
C. lied about his wife
D. deceived his father
E. murdered a man
F. became involved with an ungodly woman
G. committed adultery and murder
H. doubted
I. did not believe
J. used profanity
K. had trouble getting along with people
L. left the ministry to enjoy carnality
- Satan does not want to know there is a satisfying answer to their questions.
- Massey said, “It struck me that for almost all my life, my Bible study had simply been to prepare for .
- Massey finally understood that the which had in his life stemmed from his nature, which had taken .
- The word is a comprehensive term and includes all that a person is through his or her natural birth: intellect, emotions, and body.
- A few years ago one of the most promising fields was . Today themselves are questioning their science.
- When a person believes in and receives Jesus Christ as Saviour, the old nature has been put to , it is not blotted out or annihilated. The flesh nature is dead to , but very much alive to the .
- We are told in Galatians 4:29 that the flesh nature will always persecute the spiritual nature, as persecuted Isaac.
Titles of the Old Nature
- Peter describes this act of reverting to the old nature to be like a dog returning to his own (2 Peter 2:22).
- The word is used repeatedly by the Lord.
- Religion and have insisted that the flesh is not corrupt, but good.
- A physically dead person is of no value to ; a spiritually dead person is of no value to .
- The word describes the bridge that the old nature builds to reach out into worldliness.
- 1 Corinthians 3:3 names three things that result from carnality: , strife, and .
- The old nature’s senses, exercised by the world, will always want to choose the approach. And exercise brings .
- In contrast, when the new nature’s senses are exercised, the believer is enabled to choose the of .
- The nature is dead to the Lord, but alive to the world. The nature is alive to the Lord, and dead to the world.
- When a person receives Christ, the old man is with Him on Calvary and a creation takes place.
Outworkings of the Old Nature
- Not only does the body cooperate with the old nature, but the does also.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 says that the apostle Paul suffered and called upon the Lord times to help him.
- The Lord did not the situation but, rather, told him that in his , he had the solution to the problem. “My is sufficient for thee: for my is made perfect in ” (v. 9).
- Why do nations officially deny that the Lord exists? “Because the mind is against : for it is not to the of , neither indeed can ” (Romans 8:7).
- In order to control the carnal mind, the new nature must come to grips with the situation and begin a program of . In the beginning, this must be done by . But as the new nature, energized by the , gains strength and vitality, the carnal mind will grow and lose some of its .
- The old nature affects the of man.
- The old nature’s control of the believer’s mind is optional; the believe can subject his mind to the control.
- Most believers use the word to indicate how they react, but are not reliable. They stem from .
- We are told that there are more than fears common to men. Someone has reduced this number to basic fears.
- What are the six basic fears of man?
Fear of
Fear of
Fear of the of
Fear of
Fear of
Fear of - The fear of is the cause for 90 percent of the distresses in the Christian community.
- The first three fears have to do with the and the . The last three fears have to do with the old nature’s of anything that threatens the .
- The Christian should know that the antics of the old nature do not threaten his .
Titles of the New Nature
- Every person born into this world has an nature. This comes as a result of .
- It is not the new nature that responds to ; it is the old nature.
- In contrast to the old man, who lives in the environment of everyday life, the new man is of his environment. He is a citizen of , and the earthly atmosphere in which the Christian has to live is to his growth.
- The inward man does not deteriorate, but he does get , for, as a citizen of heaven, he is a living in a world of evil.
- We are told that we can forget the things that are and press on toward the of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).
- Both natures are aggressively competing for possession of the , the emotions, and the .
Outworkings of the New Nature
- The flesh nature is at with God, but the spirit nature is at with God.
- is a gift from God which grows as the believer absorbs the Word of God.
- One of the amazing characteristics of the new birth is the insertion of into the mind that was possessed only by before.
- While there are many of the old nature which are expressed in a child, there are also many things which are by the of others.
- The is the substance of the new nature. The “” is the output of the new nature.
- A basic test of a Christian’s is how anxious he is to contribute some spiritual to another believer, and how successful he is in it.
- At the moment of , the person receives a new nature, and begins.
- When the battle is over, the waiting for the believer will be beyond his greatest .
The Battle
- In Romans, there are approximately references to the old nature and references to the new nature. Collectively the word “I” is used - times: times it designates the action of the new nature, and times it designates the action of the old nature.
- Romans 7:14 says “For we know that the law is : but I am carnal, sold under .”
- Romans : says “If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that is good.”
- The whip which subdues the wild tendencies of the flesh is the of as taught by the .
- The nature is a powerful enemy who delights in being tempted by Satan to do evil. The nature enjoys being obedient to God’s will.
- In the Testament, the believer is left with only one commandment, and that is to .
The Two Natures and Prayer
- One of the easiest ways to cause a Christian to feel is to ask him how much time he spends in each day.
- The believer’s old nature delights in just as much as his new nature delights in .
- The old nature’s prayer life is and .
- During this Age of , the Lord’s will for the believer is not so much involved with the physical as with the .
- From whence does this information concerning the will of God come? .
- Our prayer for another person ought to be that he will open his Bible and find in it knowledge of God’s , wisdom, and .
The Two Natures and Bible Study
- One of the first things the old nature does after a person becomes a Christian is to introduce , which chews away at a person’s mind and with subtle questions or thoughts, in an attempt to undermine .
- The key to spiritual strength is to the old nature until it becomes weak and ineffective.
- “Not forsaking the of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).
- What seven basic steps should be kept in partnership Bible study as the chapter is read each day?
What is the of the chapter?
What is the of the chapter?
What verse would you for from the chapter?
What things do you about the from the chapter?
What things do you about the from the chapter?
What things do you about the from the Chapter?
What things can you to your from the chapter? - By deliberate - , every Christian should develop a plan of Bible study which he will pursue on a daily basis for the rest of his life.
Adjust or Self-Destruct
- A Christian either must learn to live with his old nature and it, or it will dominate him. He must adjust or .
- Think of the worst circumstances in which a believer may find himself. The Christian has two options. He can and subject himself to the of the old nature, or he can in the light of , believing in the Lord’s promises to the believer, and be victorious regardless of the of life around him.
- The one who loves the Lord will be motivated by a to live for Christ and to be by Christ through the Word.
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