Have you ever wondered about the relationship between psychology and the teachings of the Bible?
For the sake of clarity, psychology is defined as “the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.”
I think we do well to respect psychological research insofar as it seeks to establish connections between things people experience and how they react to those experiences. For example, upon studying, say, 100 individuals who suffered similar childhood trauma, it is worth considering what patterns of thoughts and emotions emerge from such past experiences. But it seems to me that something like that is pretty much the upper limit on its usefulness. Simply knowing why something is what it is does not translate into power to change it anymore than knowing why I’m having a heart attack somehow enables me to stop it.
On the other hand, in the Scriptures the Lord didn’t deem it necessary to give us much by way of psychological insights. Instead, he reveals who he is, what he has done and is doing for us. Then in that context he gives us commands, calls, and invitations. In essence, he first commands us to abandon our answers for any emotional pain or hunger we feel. Then he calls us to unconditionally choose to be his one-of-a-kind friend. And then he invites us to cowork with him in the adventure of delivering to others as many spiritual and hands on blessings as he gives us to pass on.
Almost all of us have had enough stuff either denied us or perpetuated upon us in our growing up years as to trigger red flags in any thoughtful psychologist. However, we now have a choice. We can keep trying to resolve our emotional suffering our way or we can override it by saying to God, my life is not going to be about what I want but about what you want.
Now here’s the astonishing thing. Out of that growing friendship with him, and as we cowork with him, healing will come. A peace and joy that cannot be taken from us will well up from deep within. Why? Because our wills end up being aligned with what may be the most foundational law of life: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
