“When Conviction Caves: Faith, Mental Health, and the Struggle to Stay Committed”

We’ve all been there at one point in our life. Or maybe several points. We say “yes” with passion, declare intentions with fire in our spirit, and commit with full hearts—only to find ourselves drifting weeks, days, or even hours later. It was really what we wanted just a month or a week ago but what happened? Why can’t we seem to stick with it? Whether it’s a personal goal, a promise to a friend, a vision for our life, or a spiritual discipline, staying committed is hard. But why?

For many of us, the tension between intention and follow-through can trigger feelings of shame, inadequacy, or failure. Especially if we involved our plans in conversation with someone else. From a mental health perspective, inconsistency can stem from emotional exhaustion, perfectionism, or even unprocessed trauma that subtly sabotages our motivation. Have you ever thought about it like that? Maybe it’s not that you’re lazy more so than you have not dealt with some things in your life that deserve healing. From a faith perspective, it’s a spiritual battle—a wrestling between flesh and spirit, will and weakness. The good news is that you have been given the victory in these situations. You just have to invite your mindset to understand what that means.

The Apostle Paul understood this intimately: “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). His confession isn’t one of defeat, but one of honesty. That is an important place to start right there. Get honest with yourself and with others! If Paul could write it just as honest as he did, then surely you can start by admitting to yourself you really don’t have it all together. We need to start there. It’s not easy! The journey of discipleship—and mental wholeness—is not about perfection but perseverance.

So how do we hold fast when our hearts feel divided?

1. Practice Grace-Fueled Accountability

Not all accountability is created equal. I need to write that again for someone who missed it. NOT ALL ACCOUNTABILITY IS CREATED EAUAL… Shame-based accountability keeps us hiding. But grace-fueled accountability says, “Let’s walk together—even when we stumble.” We need safe spaces to be honest without fear of rejection, where faith and mental health meet in compassionate community. Those places that you don’t feel safe or like you can be open and honest with yourself – they are not where you need to dwell. Sometimes taking an inventory of our surroundings and who we allow to be in our life is where we need to begin.

2. Anchor Your Commitments in Identity, Not Emotion

This is really all about identity and it seems that insecurity runs rampant in our world today. Our emotions fluctuate, but our identity in Christ does not. When our “yes” flows from who we are in Him—not just how we feel in the moment—we find a deeper well of resilience. “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’…” (Matthew 5:37) becomes less about pressure and more about integrity.

Integrity is an important part of finding who you are in Christ. It’s difficult to stabilize your integrity when you continue to commit and then cave. Eventually it will become part of what others expect of you. When they hear you say what you are going to do over and over again but yet never do it – it starts to become part of their expectation. The good news is that it doesn’t have to stay that way.

3. Invite God Into the Gaps

Some days, we don’t follow through. We get overwhelmed. We procrastinate. We stay in bed longer than we should. We don’t eat like we know we need to. We run out of energy. That’s when prayer becomes less about performance and more about presence: “God, I don’t have it today—but I still want You in it.” That’s commitment, too.

Instead of trying to pray about our performance and how we continuously fall short – why don’t we try inviting his presence into the moment? Take our attention off of what we have fallen short in and start inviting His presence into what we are doing in that moment. We do not need to hide ourselves from Him in these moments that we really need Him the most.

4. Celebrate Progress, Not Just Perfection

Mental health growth and spiritual growth are rarely linear. When we only celebrate arrival, we miss the sacredness of the steps. Even if today’s obedience looks like a whisper instead of a shout, God honors it.

You deserve to start celebrating the little moments and find those in your life who will support you and celebrate with you. This journey is meant to be shared and so finding those who will walk with us is very important for our spiritual and mental growth.

5. Return, Don’t Retreat

When we fail to live up to what we said or hoped for, the enemy whispers retreat. We want to hide and stop talking to those who are around us. These are the moments that we completely turn around and run the other way. Sometimes there are times where we will end up retreating back to worse off than we were before. But God always says, “Return.” Don’t retreat – return! His mercies are new every morning—not just when we succeed, but especially when we fall short. You get a fresh start every single day. And if there is one thing you need to remember, it’s to not bring yesterday’s failures and faults into today’s fresh mercy & grace!

The intersection of faith and mental health is holy ground. Both of them are necessary and should be considered as important elements in our life and who we are. They are where God meets our humanity—not to shame us, but to shape us. Staying committed is hard, but you are not alone. Grace is your companion. Jesus is your strength. And each step forward—however small—is sacred.

Let’s commit to staying committed with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and surrounding ourselves with the greatest support team possible. There are so many new adventures that are waiting on you so commit to that drive inside of you that knows it’s time to do this!