I recently shared a deeply personal experience with the public in hopes of helping others. It was my desire to not only stand with those who have gone through the tragedy that I had gone through but also to help those who might otherwise rush to judgment to have a better understanding so that they would be better equipped to approach this situation with the heart of our Messiah.
I believe that the Father used my story to speak to those that needed to know they aren’t alone, that this world is full of illnesses, and that having an illness is not something we should be ashamed of.
However, despite sharing my personal experience and Christy doing the same, there remained those who are convinced that what is clearly an illness should instead be a unilateral diagnosis of demons. This saddens my heart and it is my hope to speak with those who feel this way today.
I think it is important to realize that we cannot assign a blanket demon diagnosis to all things “mental illness”. Everything is not black and white simply because we have not experienced it on a level that lends a deeper understanding. There are many reasons why people suffer from mental illnesses that have nothing to do with demons and my hope is to expound upon our scope of understanding in this article.
Things to consider:
- There are actually medications that have side effects that can cause severe depression, suicidal thoughts, rage, and many other things.
- Some people actually do not produce the chemicals in their brains that keep them from becoming depressed, suicidal, or a number of other mental health issues.
- Some people suffer from hormonal issues that can cause severe depression and thoughts of suicide or worse.
- Some people have been abused and because of that deep trauma, they suffer from mental health issues. I would consider a diagnosis of demons here but for the abuser, not the victim.
- Some are born with mental birth defects.
- There is also mental trauma caused by car accidents or other types of physical accidents.
- And there are still so many others who have suffered silently without help.
- We have children that cannot cope with the state of the world today or with the extreme loneliness they have been through.
- We have children that are bullied to the point of seeing no way out.
These are just a few considerations but there are countless more. When we take these wounded people and accuse them of having demons or hold up the fact that they suffer as evidence of lack of salvation, we are wounding the already wounded. It is even more tragic when we choose to do this in the name of God when we know, by His own words and by the example of our Messiah, that these are His beloved children and He would have us take time to love them.
While I do believe that some things are spiritual battles, my point here is that I believe most are victims, whether it be from someone else or from a deficiency in their body, and to throw out a diagnosis of demons without any kind of knowledge of them is not only irresponsible but it is unloving.
My prayer for those who assign a diagnosis of demons to someone else’s illness is this:
I pray that the Father gives you His heart for His people and that you are able to feel not only how much He loves those that are suffering but also how grieved He is by those words.
Blessings,