To what extent can being born again change a mentally ill person?

Question:

To what extent can being born again change psychotic traits? Can a man who is mentally ill get to know the Lord and continue to be mentally ill, or does he become a new creature?

I do not remember any mention in the Bible of a mentally ill person being born again, except to refer to those who were possessed. It is true that the mastery of unclean spirits is also manifested on a psychic level, that is, in the soul, because PSUCHE in Greek means soul. However, it is not fair to believe that any mental illness is caused by unclean spirits.

Mental illness can have various causes and to a greater or lesser extent they influence a person’s ability to understand things and make choices. I do not know what mental illness you are referring to, but I personally believe that if a person has sufficient mental capacity to hear and understand the gospel and then if he believes it and receives the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart, he will be saved and this will be reflected in his further mental health, too.

Being in Uzbekistan, I was told about a boy who was mentally ill and was very naughty, so his mother was afraid that when he grew up he would physically and sexually abuse her and decided to put him in a mental hospital. It so happened, however, that Christians came there who told him the gospel. He understood it and began to listen to the Holy Scriptures and pray continually to be delivered from there. Moreover, he began to tell the gospel to other sick people, and another in the hospital, a boy his age, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They both began to pray for their release from the hospital. Doctors saw the change in them, communicated this to their parents, and eventually they returned to their families.

Alexandru Vervai, the former bishop of the Baptist Churches in Tajikistan who is now at home with the Lord, told me about an old woman in the church who had completely lost her memory and could no longer recognize her own children. The pastor went to her to break bread, and when he asked her if she recognized him or others, she did not recognize anyone. Then the pastor asked her if she remembered the Lord Jesus Christ, and she nodded, and her face was full of joy.

When I received this question, I also asked my friends on Facebook. Here is an interesting testimony Mrs. Eudochia Maxim wrote:

Only GOD can show you a ray of light in the darkness you are in then. I went through this condition and I know how it is… I was depressed after my husband’s death for 6 months… One day, the doctor who was treating me punched the table and said to me: I don’t give you any treatment. THE BIBLE in hand and Valerian, nothing more.” It was as if I woke up from a deep sleep. In the evening I took the BIBLE in my hand and began to read. I didn’t understand anything I was reading, but I started to sleep more peacefully and the LORD gave me work to do. I started working and stopped being depressed. Half a year later I came to the LORD. I believe that this is how the LORD worked to get me out of stress and show me the WAY THAT BRINGS SALVATION to our souls. I didn’t go to the doctor if I took the BIBLE in my hand. In 2 years I paid him a visit on one occasion. She was very surprised when she saw me healthy and said to me: “How come you came every day for half a year, but now?” I explained things to her, but she told me that she did not practice such a thing and she does not remember that she said these words to me. This is how the LORD helped me to get out of my stress, to receive Him as LORD AND SAVIOR, to receive new birth and to be a changed person in JESUS ​​CHRIST OUR SAVIOR. Thank the LORD for this change.

What does the reader think about this topic?

Translated by Olya Trikolich