Enjoying your book immensely, and need your advise. We have lead a young mother to Christ and she now profess salvation. She came out of Roman Catholicism and finally was baptized after professing salvation in Jesus.

However, she confided in me (a pastor) that according to her Psychiatrist she is "Bipolar" and was taken medication for it. She said to me that sometimes she hurt herself, cuts and scratches herself. She have shown me her arms badly scratched. I have tried to teach her to trust in our Lord, but she contends that taking medication for her well being is as if I would take an aspirin for a headache. Her argument is that God had give us Doctors to help us, thus defending the psychology system. She now takes Laetrile (I think that is the name of the new wonder drug) and said that this medication is really working.

Internet, 12/21/05

Thank you for contacting us and for sharing your story.

First, Praise God that this mother is now saved! Hopefully Jesus will begin to show her His sufficiency in her life, and convict her of her use of psychiatric drugs. But in the meantime it might be helpful to point her to Scriptures showing that God has given us everything we need for our mental/emotional/spiritual needs (2 Pet. 1:3, Col. 2:8-10, etc.).

You might also explain the bipolar diagnosis to her in more detail, helping her see her condition through a biblical lens rather than a psychological one. See http://www.psychologydebunked.com/email0510_Q&A.htm.

Yes, God does give doctors to help us in the physical realm, but no doctor can treat the soul/spirit, and that is exactly what psychiatry claims to do with their "wonder drugs" as you say (psychiatry literally means "healing of the soul"). The only person who can treat and heal the soul/spirit is the Person of the Holy Spirit. For a more fuller explanation, see http://www.psychologydebunked.com/email0508_Q&A.htm.

Regarding her self-mutilation/cutting/scratching problem, this is very common, especially among women. We know another Christian (Ralph Dettwiler) who has a ministry on the Internet to cutters, self-mutilators and suicidals--many of them professing Christians. Awhile back, he responded to us about another woman in a similar situation who was cutting herself. We have pasted his response below, in the hopes that it will help this mother.

Thanks again for contacting us, and for being a pastor who loves God's Word and loves the truth! We need more of you!

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Here is Ralph's response regarding self-abusers:

This is a very difficult subject as I learned when I started ministering to self-abusers. I don't claim to be an expert but I have an opinion which I formed after much study and research and talking to many people who are self-abusers. The easiest way for me to respond it to do it as if I were answering the person who wrote you, that helps me keep my focus on what I am saying, so if you don't mind that is how I will respond. I know it is long, but I tried to cover all the points.

First let me say that I don't believe a Christian can be demon possessed. I don't believe that the Holy Spirit, who lives in any true believer's heart will share His Temple with a demon. Having said that let me also say that many people who appear and who even think they are Christians are not true believers, and I believe that true believers can let their guard down and thereby allow demons to influence them in negative ways.

I get many letters from people who are both self-abusers and who are contemplating suicide who say they are Christians and who claim to be following Jesus Christ actively in their lives. I cannot judge their hearts, but I can judge their attitudes and their actions and I find a common thread flowing through almost all of them. To be blunt it is the worship of self. Now that might sound strange because these people are self-abusing and thinking of suicide, so the assumption people make is that they hate themselves, but that is not what I find.

They will often tell me that they hate themselves, but you have to look deeper than what they say. When I dig deeper I find some very interesting things about both suicide and self-abuse. I believe this holds true for believers and non-believers, but remember in this context I am only speaking about believers.

Let me start with suicide and then I will address self-harmers. When you really speak to these people you find that it is not that they hate themselves, no matter what they say. You can know that by listening to their reasons for wanting to die. They want out of the pain, they don't have friends, their family doesn't love them, they are lonely, they lost their job, etc... Notice what they all have in common, it is that they are not happy with how their life is going, they feel they want more, and since they can't have what they think they want they want to end their lives in hopes that death will bring relief. That is not self-hate, it is more self-love, if they truly hated themselves they would want to suffer, but they don't want to suffer they want the suffering to end, they care about themselves. In fact they care about themselves more than they care about Christ, family, friends, etc... Yet they convince themselves that they hate themselves. As believers they by definition believe in an after life, so they believe that even if they kill themselves they will enjoy a better after life then the life they have now. So they are willing to act as the god of their own life in ending their life, so that they can hurry what they see as their reward. I see this as demonic influence, not possession, but influence. Satan tells them that death will bring them what Christ in their life has been unable to bring them, but he is the father of lies and this is one of his most used in our day and age.

It is much the same with self-harmers. When you really talk to them and listen to the reasons that they are cutting or self-abusing you hear the same types of things. I often hear that they are in such emotional pain that they don't know what to do and that cutting helps relieve that pain. That seems very strange, but if you keep digging you finally hear the real reason they cut or self-abuse, they feel they have no control of what is happening in their lives, this is what they call emotional pain. When they cut, they are in control, they are causing the pain, they decide how much, how often, when to stop, etc... They feel like they have control of their lives. Of course they don't and most realize that too late when they realize they can't stop cutting on their own. Many are overwhelmed by guilt for what they are doing, but some even cut more because they feel guilty and feel the need to punish themselves.

Again remember I am speaking about believers in Jesus Christ, or at least people who claim to be believers. I make that distinction because I think it is important. The Bible is very clear on what it takes to be a true believer, unfortunately most churches don't bother to teach discipleship these days, they teach the gospel as a contract between God and man, once we sign the dotted line God is required to allow us into heaven, but that is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me show you what I mean:

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. [29] "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." [NASB-U]

Jesus' yoke is easy, but it is a yoke nontheless.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. [NASB-U]

We are to deny ourselves in order to follow Christ.

1 John 2:3-6 [3] We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. [4] The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. [5] But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: [6] Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. [NIV]

We must walk as Jesus did.

Hebrews 10:26-27 [26] If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, [27] but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. [NIV]

We can't continue to deliberately keep on sinning and still be a follower of Jesus Christ. These are important truths, that many people have never heard and consequently they get influenced by demonic forces and fall by the wayside. Let me show you why I believe these are demonic influences:

1 Cor. 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? [20] For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. [NASB-U]

Satan knows that a true Christian is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, so it should not surprise us that he would love for a Christian to self-harm, they are harming the Temple of the Holy Spirit and certainly not honoring God with their body.

Now I want to show you something that many people miss in reading their Bibles, this is not a believer and he is demon possessed but I think we can learn some things from his story:

Mark 5:1-5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. [2] When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. [3] This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. [4] For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. [5] Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. [NIV]

I didn't quote the whole story of how Jesus cast the demon out, but what I quoted is the important part to our discussion, he was a cutter. Let me show you another example:

Mark 9:17-22 A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. [18] Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." [19] "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." [20] So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. [21] Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?""From childhood," he answered. [22] "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." [NIV]

Notice again that the demon tried to harm the child. This brings us to the question of why? I think there are a number of reasons, but I want to address just two. First we as human beings, whether we are believers or not, are created in the image of God. We often forget this, but believe me the demons are reminded of it every time they see one of us. I believe that they try to harm us whether believers or not because they hate God but cannot fight Him and they know their time is short. Secondly, the demons know that salvation is only available while a person is alive, after death comes judgment, so if they can cause a person to take their own life, they have sealed that person's eternal destiny.

This brings me to the bottom line. Whether the person claims to be a Christian or not, what needs to be done for them, is to show them from Scripture that you can't be a true believer if you are not following Christ. These types of activities, self-harm and planning or wishing to commit suicide are sins and must be dealt with through confession before God. They are self-indulgent sins, where the person puts themselves before Christ, they put their desires and their wants before the desires and wants of Jesus Christ. I know this is already long, but let me address how a person get's true freedom in Christ. I have many people tell me that they have prayed and prayed for God to help them stop a particular sin or two, but that He doesn't help them. They feel guilt and rejection because they know what they are doing is wrong, yet they can't stop. The problem is that they are approaching the problem in the wrong way. They are trying to have control, but until they are ready to give up control there is no real help for their situation.

Let me give you a passage of scripture which illustrates what I am talking about: (Romans 6:16-18 NIV)

[16] Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? [17] But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. [18] You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Notice that we are never set free to control our own lives. We are either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. That is what most people don't understand. God will never help you take control of your own life, He wants control and either you give it to Him or you remain a slave to sin. That does not mean you are not saved, it means that your sinful nature is still in control. This is not talked about much anymore, but it is what the Bible calls sanctification. This is when we are freed from the bondage of sin and God takes control of our lives. I will tell you that I have never felt such freedom as I did when I finally gave up and let God have control of my life.

Here is another passage that deals with this: (Romans 8:1-8 NIV)

[1] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, [4] in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. [5] Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. [6] The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; [7] the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. [8] Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Notice in verse 6 Paul tells us that the mind controlled by the Spirit is life! God will help you, but you have to be willing to give complete control to Him. Admit that you can't do it. There truly is victory in Jesus.

Believe me I still struggle with temptation, but it is different now. Before, the temptations over took me like a giant wave. I would get caught up in it and swept away. I felt like I had no control, I could not resist. But now, it is like I see the wave coming and I just quickly pray that God will deliver me and He does 

This is what these people need to hear, first the true gospel and then that they can be set free from sin.

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