If you struggle with mental illness, you are not alone. You’re not crazy. (Well, we’re all a little crazy, but you’re not ‘crazy’ crazy). Most important, there’s hope. Here are five words I want you to hear:

You belong. Don’t ever say “I don’t fit in.” You belong. Romans 12:4-5 says, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.“

You’re needed. Don’t buy into the lie that your mental illness has rendered you useless. There are others walking through similar situations that need you to help them as you’re being helped. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.“

You have a purpose. You are not an accident. Don’t ever think you don’t matter. You were created on purpose for a purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

You are loved. God loves you more than you could ever possibly imagine. Don’t ever hate yourself. 1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

You have a choice. When it feels like your brain is broken sometimes, when it feels like you’re under attack, when it feels like every day can be a struggle, you have a choice. Keep fighting, and know that you don’t have to fight alone. 2 Corinthians 4:8 says, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.“