Depression is a deeply distressing experience for many people. Fortunately, there is much less stigma today for those who struggle with these dark thoughts, but there can still be a perceived stigma. And quite apart from any social challenges there is the big black thing itself. Are the relief efforts sponsored? Go through these suggestions and draw your own conclusions. I am not a medical practitioner and the following brief overview is offered as an expression of my Christian beliefs. Is there hope for people suffering from depression?
• SEE THE BIG PICTURE
Without the big picture, any kind of personal hardship will seem bleak and pointless. But context will have the same problem with that. The big biblical picture is completely realistic because it explains how we are part of an abnormal world. It used to be perfect, but now, after the rebellion of our first parents, we are all sinful, guilty, proud rebels who live in defiance of God, the mighty creator.
Without this context, people struggle to make sense of a strange "normality" that just doesn't make sense. With the big picture of the Bible, we see the division between God and humanity, between each other in corrupt relationships, and the self against self in our own personalities. While this is the source of many psychological problems, diseases caused by chemical imbalances and other inherited depressive conditions are beyond the scope of this article. In general, the depressions I'm talking about include deep sadness, persistent low mood, feelings of hopelessness, and self-judgmental worthlessness.
• RELEVANCE
Nor is it offered as a self-help tool for personal psychological problems, as if it were an end in itself. The gospel of Christ is not a therapeutic help against feelings of guilt, fear or depression, but it is God's way of reconciling sinners to himself. The gospel of Christ is the revelation of God's love in Christ, who shed His precious blood in death as a sacrifice and bore the punishment for the multitude of condemned transgressors of God's law.
The goal of Christ's gospel is God's glory in the salvation of moral rebels, who through repentance and faith will receive the forgiveness of all their sins. So get right with God first, and if you are depressed or struggling, some of the materials here may help. “Why are you cast down, my soul, and why do you rebel within me? Hope in God; for I will praise him again, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:5).
Notice the close causal relationship between thoughts and feelings, and that these words of scripture teach that we should confront ourselves at times and take concrete steps to deal with feelings of discouragement and discouragement. Don't fall victim to your own dark thoughts - challenge them!
• GRACE
Remember, salvation is all God's rich, completely undeserved overflowing grace. So if you have come to Christ on God's terms, you have stopped trying to love God as a means of gaining his acceptance. We were loved not because our performance gave us an edge over others as we sought God's approval—no way! We were not loved because we were particularly good specimens of humanity. The way to avoid this confusion is to say, 'I am special because God loves me.' Gaining a sense of high personal worth will certainly help reduce the depression associated with low self-esteem.
I was in a Bible study once when we recorded Jesus' words “Fear not; you are more valuable than many sparrows' (Luke 12:7) when one person who was suffering from mental health problems exclaimed: 'This is much more helpful than counseling sessions!' Some biblical advice can be productive, but never forget the powerful, direct teaching of God's word.
Personal realization of God's grace will have a great effect on your self-acceptance. The good news is that God's acceptance of you is not based on your efforts to impress God, but on Christ's perfect law-keeping and spotless righteousness that they lived for you as your substitute. Now it is he who has been accepted for us, with the result: 'It [righteousness] will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification' ( Romans 4:24-25).
• REALISM, NOT PERFECTION
Self-understanding is a slow process, so don't become overly introspective and absorbed in your own psyche. Some psychological problems arise from buried fears and guilt, whether social guilt or actual moral guilt. Some depressive problems can arise when we develop a severe aversion to some part of our person and adopt a burying strategy. We shove the qualities we don't like deep inside and work to create a more acceptable personality that covers up the one we're at odds with.
Unfortunately, this problematic strategy only forces parts of your person into the depths. Deep-buried conflicts tend to create dark, anxious, and complex thoughts as we strive to be someone else—more acceptable, more attractive, more intelligent, and other idealistic traits. But whichever strategy we use, some deeper level of self-understanding can help you gain more balance and less self-judgment.
Here we may find that a God-given sense of realism will help us free ourselves from the depressing chains of idealism. When you realize that God has accepted you as you are, learning to accept yourself will follow; not just what you wanted to be. Oh, what a sigh of relief! "...for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7). So learn to pray, trust God, confess sin and direct your thought life.
• SIGNIFICANCE
Once you begin to see the big picture and if you have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation, then you are of extraordinary value to God. Then as you grow in your knowledge of God, you will also gain self-knowledge, and as you encourage others and share the gospel, you will begin to have a much richer understanding of God's eternal purpose in Christ.
God can often use different kinds of suffering, including mental suffering, to bring us to a more peaceful trust and rest in the Lord Jesus. And you can also gain insight into your own tendency toward depression, or that tendency to be down, as you say with calm confidence; "There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" and later in the chapter, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:1 and 28).
Michael J.S. Austin, Ph.D.
WE WILL PUT THE BROKEN PIECES TOGETHER AGAIN!
If you thought The New Atheism was the final answer, read my NEW TITLE below.
My aim is to show that biblical Christianity appeals to serious reason and careful consideration. It was never a leap into the dark unknown, but it is intellectually defensible and internally consistent—an ultimate revealed truth that is powerfully relevant today.
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