Explain the difference

[Chriliman]

Can someone explain the difference between spiritual health and mental health?

I recently had the thought that they’re one in the same, but I’m not certain.

 

[Guojing]

Can someone explain the difference between spiritual health and mental health?

I recently had the thought that they’re one in the same, but I’m not certain.

If you accept that we are a trinity as God is, spirit soul and body, then one refers to the spirit, the other refers to the soul.

 

[Al Touthentop]

Can someone explain the difference between spiritual health and mental health?

I recently had the thought that they’re one in the same, but I’m not certain.

I've never seen either phrase in the Bible. I think these are secular terms. In what context do you mean?

 

[Aussie Pete]

Can someone explain the difference between spiritual health and mental health?

I recently had the thought that they’re one in the same, but I’m not certain.

The spirit is the real you. Your inner man, if you will. The mind is a part of the soul. The soul is what we need to express the inner man. For example, you have a desire in your inner man to go on a holiday. Let's say Hawaii. You will have to do a lot of stuff to get there - and your mind will be needed to plan, organise fares, travel documents and everything that has to do with the trip.

If you are born again, Lord Jesus lives in your spirit man, not your mind. If you have proper fellowship, pray, study the Word and meet with other believers,your spirit man should be in good shape. If not, you will suffer "spiritual malnutrition". Lord Jesus said that His words are spirit and life. "Daily Bread" is the living word for the spirit man, not food for the body.

The mind should serve the spirit, not the other way around. If the mind is troubled, preoccupied with life issues, full of false notions or unrenewed, it becomes a hindrance rather than a help. Very often, mental health issues are induced by attacks from evil spirits. They can implant suggestions into you mind that are contrary to God's word. They can be positive or negative. It usually fits the individual's personality. An introvert is likely to be attacked with negative thoughts, hopelessness and a sense of failure. The outgoing type is more likely to be influenced by presumption masquerading as faith. The devil will use God's word. For some he will trap them in an endless cycle such as Paul went through in Romans 7. For others, he will incite them to some action or word that is contrary to God's will. Peter is a classic case. He rebuked Lord Jesus for saying that he was going to Jerusalem to be killed. Lord Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan". We see there an example of an evil thought being planted and then spoken out. A similar incident is Peter's boast that he would never betray the Lord Jesus.

An unhealthy mind is one that is constantly bombarded with alien thoughts or not able to think at all. It may be a chemical imbalance or an illness. If so, the correct medication will solve the problem. Serious illness can affect the mind. But we need to be aware of the possibility that our minds are under attack. This is absolutely normal for Christians. It is the war that all Christians are engaged in. It's what Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 10:5

 

[Chriliman]

I've never seen either phrase in the Bible. I think these are secular terms. In what context do you mean?

How about the difference between spirit and mind?

 

[Chriliman]

If you accept that we are a trinity as God is, spirit soul and body, then one refers to the spirit, the other refers to the soul.

How does one differentiate their spirit from their mind, especially when the mind is required to even attempt to do so? The Bible describes spirit as formless and mysterious in the sense that it’s like wind in the way it comes and goes. Why shouldn’t we think the mind is also like that?

 

[Chriliman]

The spirit is the real you. Your inner man, if you will. The mind is a part of the soul. The soul is what we need to express the inner man. For example, you have a desire in your inner man to go on a holiday. Let's say Hawaii. You will have to do a lot of stuff to get there - and your mind will be needed to plan, organise fares, travel documents and everything that has to do with the trip.

If you are born again, Lord Jesus lives in your spirit man, not your mind. If you have proper fellowship, pray, study the Word and meet with other believers,your spirit man should be in good shape. If not, you will suffer "spiritual malnutrition". Lord Jesus said that His words are spirit and life. "Daily Bread" is the living word for the spirit man, not food for the body.

The mind should serve the spirit, not the other way around. If the mind is troubled, preoccupied with life issues, full of false notions or unrenewed, it becomes a hindrance rather than a help. Very often, mental health issues are induced by attacks from evil spirits. They can implant suggestions into you mind that are contrary to God's word. They can be positive or negative. It usually fits the individual's personality. An introvert is likely to be attacked with negative thoughts, hopelessness and a sense of failure. The outgoing type is more likely to be influenced by presumption masquerading as faith. The devil will use God's word. For some he will trap them in an endless cycle such as Paul went through in Romans 7. For others, he will incite them to some action or word that is contrary to God's will. Peter is a classic case. He rebuked Lord Jesus for saying that he was going to Jerusalem to be killed. Lord Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan". We see there an example of an evil thought being planted and then spoken out. A similar incident is Peter's boast that he would never betray the Lord Jesus.

An unhealthy mind is one that is constantly bombarded with alien thoughts or not able to think at all. It may be a chemical imbalance or an illness. If so, the correct medication will solve the problem. Serious illness can affect the mind. But we need to be aware of the possibility that our minds are under attack. This is absolutely normal for Christians. It is the war that all Christians are engaged in. It's what Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 10:5

How does one differentiate their spirit from their mind, especially when the mind is required to even attempt to do so?

The Bible describes spirit as formless and mysterious in the sense that it’s like wind in the way it comes and goes. Why shouldn’t we think the mind is also like that?

 

[Guojing]

How does one differentiate their spirit from their mind, especially when the mind is required to even attempt to do so? The Bible describes spirit as formless and mysterious in the sense that it’s like wind in the way it comes and goes. Why shouldn’t we think the mind is also like that?

As believers, we have the spirit of Christ fused with our own spirit. Our spirit, in the eyes of God the father, is perfect.

Our minds however needs to be renewed daily to the truth of our present spirit. As we renew our mind, our souls will start to prosper.

I trust you know which scripture I used in my above 2 paragraphs?

 

[zippy2006]

Can someone explain the difference between spiritual health and mental health?

I recently had the thought that they’re one in the same, but I’m not certain.

They are closely related and many would say there is no difference at all. For me the spiritual would be broader and more comprehensive, not being confined to the mental, thought-space. Further, the spiritual seems to represent a kind of supernatural or mystical aspect of our being that transcends natural mental states.

 

[NBB]

What the world call mental health, can be problems in your body (brain) or spiritual problems, just that the world dismisses that we have a soul, and say the brain does everything.

I had spiritual problems solved with the help of God, that the world would call mental health problems, but they were spiritual.

Spiritual health i say is to be alive with the spirit of God (a convert or born again) and be free from the devil, and also clean, you can be dead spiritually, and also the devil can throw their spiritual problems at you, and be dirty with sins and this is having poor spiritual health.

 

[Al Touthentop]

How about the difference between spirit and mind?

Well it's kinda weird actually. Throughout the bible soul and spirit can be used interchangeably. And spirit and mind often refer to the same thing. But in Hebrews, spirit and soul are distinct. The word of God it says is able to pierce the division between spirit and the soul and so it seems to be equating the spirit with the mind and the soul with the thing within us that lives on after we die. But sometimes the grammar seems to indicate the spirit is the animation or soul. In John 5 for instance, the Greek word used for spirit is πνευμα - normally translated wind. And even in next verse the same word is used but translated wind.

The word for soul in the New Testament is translated from ψυχη which is also translated 'life'. Makes sense because the idea is that what animates us is the soul and that's the life of the body.

So the spirit is in scripture generally the mind or the intelligence, and the soul is that immortal part of us that lives on after we die. However, sometimes the word spirit is used for what we think of as the soul.

It's all about context. When Paul says that the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit, I think that he's talking about the mind there rather than the soul. And the word of God affects our spirit or our mind.

It gets even more interesting because the mind is also referred to as the heart (καρδια - cardia). Obviously your heart can't think but perhaps the place where compassion and mercy live in our minds is this 'heart'. Though there is also a connotation of reason there. When we accept the word, it's because our 'heart' is not hard.

Anyway...I asked about it because the whole mental/spiritual health thing isn't found in the scriptures with those words but there might be some parallels.

 

[Chriliman]

They are closely related and many would say there is no difference at all. For me the spiritual would be broader and more comprehensive, not being confined to the mental, thought-space. Further, the spiritual seems to represent a kind of supernatural or mystical aspect of our being that transcends natural mental states.

I'd tend to agree, but I'm wondering if our mental states already do transcend the natural? At least in the sense that our minds are something completely different than the fleshy biology of our brains.

 

[zippy2006]

I'd tend to agree, but I'm wondering if our mental states already do transcend the natural? At least in the sense that our minds are something completely different than the fleshy biology of our brains.

Perhaps, but I think you can have normal or abnormal thought-patterns without that implying spiritual health or dysfunction.

 

[Chriliman]

Perhaps, but I think you can have normal or abnormal thought-patterns without that implying spiritual health or dysfunction.

Yes, assuming spiritual and mental are different aspects of our being, but it almost seems redundant to think they are different, especially since it’s so difficult(for me at least) to distinguish a difference when contemplating the concepts.

 

[zippy2006]

Yes, assuming spiritual and mental are different aspects of our being, but it almost seems redundant to think they are different, especially since it’s so difficult(for me at least) to distinguish a difference when contemplating the concepts.

Take a mental health expert and a spirituality expert and let them compare notes. For example, a psychologist and a priest. Will their assessment of illness and health overlap completely? I think not. Edge cases would be things like a dark night of the soul (mentally disturbed but spiritually healthy) or complacent selfish materialism (spiritually unhealthy but mentally sound).

 

[Chriliman]

Take a mental health expert and a spirituality expert and let them compare notes. For example, a psychologist and a priest. Will their assessment of illness and health overlap completely? I think not. Edge cases would be things like a dark night of the soul (mentally disturbed but spiritually healthy) or complacent selfish materialism (spiritually unhealthy but mentally sound).

Okay, so you could say the spiritual is what gives us a zeal for righteous, abundant life and the mental is what can help us keep all the facts straight?

 

[zippy2006]

Okay, so you could say the spiritual is what gives us a zeal for righteous, abundant life and the mental is what can help us keep all the facts straight?

Sure, I suppose that's one way to think about it.

 

[Chriliman]

Sure, I suppose that's one way to think about it.

Thanks Zippy and everyone else who took the time to explain.