Read and Grow

Christians aren’t immune to struggles with mental health. It’s a fact. We might recognize we have hope, love, and assurance that transcends any anxious thought. But we can’t escape the fact that we are mortal, imperfect, and the pressures of this world can consume us.

Even Godly people in the Bible struggled with their mental health. Consider the following statements:

“How long must I have sorrow in my heart?” (Psalm 13:2)

“My tears have been my food day and night.” (Psalm 42:3)

“I am a man who has no strength” (Psalm 88:4)

Does it surprise you that these are the very thoughts and writings of faithful God followers?

The reality is that knowing and following Jesus does not safeguard you from mental health struggles. David, in the Old Testament, very clearly struggled with depressive and anxious thoughts – his psalms are filled with them. He was thrown into the limelight at a young age, His king/father-in-law attempted to murder him – that would probably come up in counselling – and his personal failings were made very public.

Despite all these things David had God’s favour and was still chosen to do His work. God himself called David ‘a man after my own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14). David’s struggles with his mental health did not disqualify him, and neither do yours.

God doesn’t see you as ‘less than’ because of your struggles. You are in no way disqualified from sharing Jesus because of your mental health. The path to moving forward might be to see yourself from God’s perspective – and this could be your biggest challenge.

You are loved - nothing you do or experience will keep you from the love of God.

You are forgiven - His grace covers all your fears and failures.

You are cared for - He cares about the details of your life.

You are not alone - He is with you, and He will never leave you.

How do we get God’s perspective?

1. Read your Bible.

Scripture dismantles lies and sets your eyes on Jesus.

2. Worship.

Placing Jesus as the King of your heart puts your anxieties into their right perspective.

3. Pray.

Share your struggle with the Holy Spirit and ask Him to give you revelation on who Jesus is.

4. Share.

When the opportunity comes, share about the inner transformation that Jesus is doing.

Overcome your mental health struggles by walking close with Jesus and witness your life from His perspective.

Easter is a perfect time for you to share Jesus with your friends. But how can you make the Easter message meaningful and interesting when your friends would rather watch cat videos on TikTok than hear about Jesus?

Beating the algorithm

We’ve all heard about “the algorithm.” It’s the thing that sucks you into the TikTok vortex for hours at a time, keeping you hooked by tailoring content to your personal preferences. In fact, it probably knows what you like even better than you do!

While the algorithm can be helpful at times—for instance, predictive shopping or efficiently sharing information—it can also damage your physical, emotional, and even spiritual health.

These days, it’s so much easier to scroll your feed than to address toxic thought patterns, see a therapist, or take care of your health. Social media often acts as a bandaid that distracts you from the reality of life, and your true, human needs.

The ultimate human need, of course, is saving from sin. Easter is a great reminder of how Jesus met this need for a Saviour by dying on the cross for us. While we fill our lives with distraction and “save ourselves” by buying material goods, we forget that we are “wretched, miserable, poor and blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17).

Yes, the algorithm can predict and provide all the entertainment or material goods you might want, but it can’t give you what you truly need. Remembering this and putting it into action is how you can beat the algorithm and share Jesus more meaningfully with others.

The need for genuine, human connection

If you want to share Jesus with your TikTok-addicted friends, here’s what you can do:

Step 1: Ask your friend some deeper questions, like:

• What do you desire?
• What are your deepest needs right now?
• What are you afraid of?
• What brings you meaning and purpose?

Step 2: Help your friend see how Jesus can:

• Fulfil their desires
• Meet their needs
• Help them overcome fear
• Give them meaning and purpose

There is one thing the algorithm can’t offer, no matter how smart it gets: genuine, human connection and understanding. The algorithm can’t empathise with your tricky life circumstances, cure your mental health struggles, or help your mum through her cancer journey. It can’t offer wise guidance, genuine peace, or hope for tomorrow. But by connecting with a friend and asking them, “How are you, really?” you can discover their real needs and share how Jesus can help to fulfil them.

This Easter, maybe it’s time to connect in-person with a friend, on an emotional level, and see how you can meet their needs—the ones that Siri and Alexa can’t.

It’s Easter. Google Trends show that people Google “Jesus” more each Easter than they do at Christmas. So if it’s a time of the year when people are curious about Jesus, are you ready to share about him when the opportunity presents itself?

Here’s a simple way to share the gospel clearly, by simply memorising these 4 words:

POSITION

PROBLEM

PROVISION

PART

1. POSITION: LOVE is God’s position towards us.

God is the creator of all things. As an outflow of His abundant love, He created the universe, the world, and all things in it. God is love, and He loves every human being. God’s desire is to be in a loving relationship with His people. This relationship with God means life, wholeness, fulfilment, and living in harmony with others.

• God loves the world - God doesn’t just show love as an action. He is love. God loves all of His creation.
• God’s love is unconditional - This is not a love that must be earned or achieved, it’s given unconditionally. Jesus was sent to die for us while we were still sinners.

2. PROBLEM: SIN is our problem

God created man and woman to live in harmony with Him and each other, however, when humanity sinned we cut ourselves off from God. Now every person has a spiritual heart problem, this is what we call sin. Sin is any choice we make that goes against God’s design for our life and these choices fundamentally break our relationship with God.

• Sin is an “own way” attitude - Sin isn’t just bad things we do, it’s a fundamental attitude that makes choices against God’s design for our life.
• Sin separates us from God - Making choices that go against God’s design for our lives break our relationship with him. No one can earn their way back to God.

3. PROVISION: JESUS is God’s provision

God didn’t leave us to our own devices, instead, Jesus entered into the world. He lived the perfect life we could not live and died the death we deserved. He lay dead in a tomb for three days, and on that third day, he rose again proving He was God and that his sacrifice was acceptable.

• Jesus is God - Jesus is God in human form. He lived a perfect life and did not sin.
• Jesus died as our substitute - The consequence of sin is death. However, Jesus died on the cross in our place, cancelling humanity’s debt of sin.

4. PART: TURN & TRUST is our part

Believing in Jesus means turning from sin and trusting in Jesus as your saviour. The Bible calls it repentance and faith. You can’t just say the words or go through the motions, God knows your heart. You can do this by praying to God.

• Our response is to turn away from our sins - When we own our brokenness and turn away from our sin to Jesus, he forgives us.
• Our response is to trust that Jesus is God and defeated death for us - When we trust that Jesus is God and that he defeated death for us, his undefeatable life now lives in us.

PRAY

If your friend wants to make this decision, you can help them by giving them the words to say. Try a prayer like this (get them to repeat the sentences after you):

“Dear God. I know you love me. I’m sorry for my sin and that I have gone my own way. Thank you for your son Jesus who died on the cross for my sins and rose again. Today I turn from my sin and trust in Jesus alone. Amen.”

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Commit these 4 words to memory and be prepared to share them as a ready weapon you can unleash next time you share Jesus.

Henry lives life at 120%. He works hard to become an expert in whatever field or topic that he sets his mind to. From coffee to social media management and now garden maintenance, Henry is an entrepreneur with a big heart for people.

He shared with us a recent opportunity he had to talk to a client about Jesus.

“I was mowing one of my client’s lawns. He came out really excited about showing me the mirror in his house. He asked me to go look at the mirror and as I walked in I noticed the Bible. Then he showed me everything in his house. As we were walking back outside I saw the Bible again so I said, ‘Do you read the Bible?’ And he said, ‘Not really. I used to. I mean I believe in God.’ I told him that I go to church. That just started a whole conversation about Jesus.” — Henry

Fast forward a few months…

“Now every time I mow his lawn we pray. We’ve caught up a few times and we pray as well. He says, ‘I can feel the Holy Spirit.’ Now he’s at the point where he really wants to come to church.

Opportunities like this are linked to how much you’re pursuing God at the time. I love what Paul says in Romans 1, ‘I am unashamed of the Gospel.’ You can hear it in his blood. I can’t wait, every morning to share the hope and the strength that His goodness brings. The more I pursue God, the more I see the opportunities.

So, when I saw the Bible sitting there something jumped out. It was a split-second moment where I realised that this was the time to share. You become more aware of moments like these and God gives you a boldness to carry through with it.” — Henry

This God-breathed boldness has made a way for many more conversations about faith and Jesus.

Henry shared another story about a workmate:

“He found a cross necklace when he was at work and was so excited to give it to me. I wanted to try and restructure the way he saw Jesus so I said, ‘Did you know that back in the day the cross wasn’t necessarily a nice thing for Christians, but their symbolism was a fish or an anchor because the hope that Jesus brought was the anchor for their life. So for Christianity our biggest symbol is hope.’ He said to me, ‘I could go for some hope!’

From there it was a natural conversation talking about that and how Jesus is what you wake up for and He’s what gets you through the hard times. So that opened us up to talk more about what he’s struggling with and how Jesus could be the answer to his life.

The way you share Jesus with people who don’t yet know Him, is by talking about what He’s changed in you. You can argue the theology or why He’s real, but people see Jesus through the change in you. So sharing what He’s done in your life is always the best way.” — Henry

We experience change through our own personal devotion and intimacy with Jesus. The result is life just like Henry has described—awareness of the opportunities all around us and a story of our own transformation.