It’s OK to Not Be OK: A Conversation on Faith and the Four Keys to Mental Health with Steve Larson!It’s OK to Not Be OK: A Conversation on Faith and the Four Keys to Mental Health with Steve Larson!
Anchored by the Sword
Gina Fox talks with Pastor Steve Larson about his experience with depression, his four-key framework for mental health, and how faith communities can respond with care instead of stigma. Their conversation blends Scripture, practical tools and personal stories to encourage honest, ongoing attention to mental wellbeing.
21:45•12 May 2026
Faith, Feelings and the Four Keys to Mental Health with Steve Larson
Episode Overview
- Mental health is for everyone: if you have a brain, you have mental health, and its current state matters more than labels.
- Balanced care across mental, physical, spiritual and relational areas helps keep you as well as possible, rather than leaning on just one key.
- Medication, counselling, community and prayer can all be valid parts of healing, and using medicine does not mean you lack faith.
- Churches need to drop the stigma and treat mental illness with the same compassion as physical illness, avoiding shame and exclusion.
- It’s okay not to be okay, but don’t stay isolated—victory often comes through vulnerability, honesty and trusted support.
“It's okay not to be okay. Just don't be not okay alone.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety and mental health? This conversation between host Gina Fox and Pastor Steve Larson leans hard into that question, with a warm, faith-filled chat about why "it's okay not to be okay" and what practical help can look like. Steve shares his story of growing up in church, realising later that he couldn’t earn his way to God, and then hitting a deep depressive low after a painful church split.
He explains how a three-month sabbatical became a turning point: "I asked this question, how do I never sink that low again?" From there, he started gathering tools, teaching others, and eventually writing his book, *The Four Keys to Mental Health: Feel Better, Think Clearly, and Enjoy Life Again*. You’ll hear him break down those four keys through Luke 2:52 – mental, physical, spiritual, and relational health – and why focusing on just prayer or Bible reading isn’t enough.
Gina and Steve talk honestly about church culture, stigma, and how some congregations accept physical illness but quietly shame mental illness. Steve puts it bluntly: "If you have a brain, you have mental health. The question is what is the current state of your mental health?" The episode also covers very down-to-earth topics: hydration, exercise, food and mood, medication, and why saying someone on antidepressants doesn’t trust God can be so harmful.
Both Gina and Steve emphasise that God can work through miracles, medicine, counselling, and community. This one’s especially helpful if you’re a person of faith living with anxiety, depression, or bipolar, or if you’re in ministry and want to care better for people who are struggling. As Steve says, "Victory comes from vulnerability" – so who could you safely open up to today?
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