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Every Christian suffers from depression from time to
time. Sometimes depression is self-induced because it is caused by sin. Mental
attitude sins will bring on depression. Failure to exercise Faith-Rest
principles or failure to claim promises from the Bible can cause depression. If
sin is the problem, the first step to the solution is to confess sin Biblically
and use the techniques of Faith-Rest, Occupation with Christ, and the Filling of
the Holy Spirit to begin a quick recovery.
Sometimes depression comes through no fault of our own.
There may be severe problems which are imposed by outside circumstances. There
may be physical exhaustion and a weakening of physical and emotional strength.
There may be serious disturbances or distress in life with a feeling of being
trapped or a fear of what might happen. If the depression is not caused by a sin
problem, confession is not called for. But the techniques of the Christian way
of life are equally useful in combatting depression in whatever form it comes.
The dictionary defines depression as one or more of the
following:
* A feeling of dejection or sadness
* An attitude of self-depreciation
* A reduction is quality or force
* A lowering of vitality or functional activity
The Bible deals extensively with the subject of mental
anguish, sorrow, and depression. There are many Bible words used to describe the
thoughts and feelings people have when they are depressed. Studying these
definitions, and the Bible passages where they are found, is a very important
part of the therapy for depression. Almost every Bible verse that has a word
related to depression also has part of the cure for that condition somewhere in
its context.
As you study the following verses, try to determine in each
case the reasons for the state of depression and whether it was caused by
personal sin (self-induced), was the result of undeserved suffering, or came
from some other source. Then, try to decide on what the "cure" should have been.
In some cases, the cure will show up in the context. In others you will have to
decide on a solution from categorical doctrinal principles.
The Bible deals with depression categorically using the
following words:
lupei, meaning "grief, sorrow,
distress, suffering, a sad plight". The verb form is
lupeo, "to cause pain, to
grieve, to annoy". In military terminology, the word was used of troops in the
sense "to harass; to annoy" the enemy. In the passive voice, where the subject
receives the action of the verb, the meaning is "to be sad, to be sorry, to be
grieved".
"And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The
Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and
the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry." Matt.
17:22,23
"And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of
them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?" Matt. 26:22
"But when the young man heard that saying, he went away
sorrowful: for he had great possessions." Matt. 19:22
"And he [Jesus] took with him Peter and the two sons of
Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me."
Matt. 26:37,38
"... I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the
world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned
into joy." John 16:20
"But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest
thou not charitably." Romans 14:15
"For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote
unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know
the love which I have more abundantly unto you." 2 Cor. 2:4
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope." 1 Thess. 4:13
"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if
need be, ye are in heaviness through many testings." 1 Peter 1:6
"Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but
grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby." Heb. 12:11
"For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward
God endure grief, suffering wrongfully." 1 Peter 2:19
adeimonia, noun, "in great
distress or anguish"
"My soul is exceeding sorrowful...", Matt. 27:38. See also
Mark 14:33,34
"For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness,
because that ye had heard that he had been sick." Phil. 2:26
anagkei, noun, "necessity,
constraint, natural desire (such as hunger), bodily pain or suffering". When
used with thlipsis,
signifies a condition of necessity arising from some form of outside compulsion.
[From here on, you look up the verses for yourself; all
this typing is making me depressed. wd]
MATT. 18:7; LUKE 14:18; 21:23; ROM. 13:5; 1 COR. 7:26, 37;
9:16; 2 COR. 6:4; 9:7; 12:10; 1 THESS. 3:7; PHILEMON V. 14; HEB. 7:12,27; 9:16;
JUDE V. 3
stenochoria, noun, "narrowness
of place, a trapped feeling."
ROM. 2:9; 8:35; 2 COR. 6:4; 12:10
sunochei, noun, metaphorically
for "anguish or distress" caused by a compressing together or narrowing of the
way.
2 COR. 2:4
LUKE 21:25
thlipsis, noun, "pressure,
oppression, affliction.
MATT. 13:21; 24:9; MARK 4:17; 13:19,24; JOHN 16:21,33; ACTS
7:10,11; 11:19; 14:22; 20:23; ROM. 2:9; 5:3; 8:35; 12:12; 1 COR. 7:28; 2 COR.
1:4,8; 2:4; 4:17; 6:4; 7:4; 8:2; EPH. 3:13; PHIL. 1:17; 4:14; COL. 1:24; 1
THESS. 1:6; 3:3,7; 2 THESS. 1:4,6; HEB. 10:33; JAMES 1:27; REV. 1:9; 2:9,10,22;
7:14
kataroneo, verb, "to wear out
with toil or suffering"
Acts 7:24 and 2 Peter 2:7
sunechw, verb, "to forcibly
hold together; to contain; to constrain; to oppress" Used for holding rowers
together on galley ships.
MATT. 4:24, 38; 8:37
LUKE 8:45; 19:43; 22:63
ACTS 28:8; 7:57; 12:50; 18:5
2 COR. 5:14
PHIL. 1:23
odunao, verb, "to cause pain".
In the passive "to feel pain".
LUKE 2:48; 16:24
ACTS 20:38
thlibo, verb "to press; to
distress; to trouble; to gall"
MATT. 7:14
MARK 3:9
2 COR. 1:6; 4:8; 7:5
1 THESS. 3:4
2 THESS 1:6
1 TIM. 5:10
HEB. 11:37
tarachei, noun, "trouble,
disorder, confusion"
MARK 13:8
JOHN 5:4
tarasso, verb, "to stir up,
disturb, trouble; to trouble the mind; to alarm; to frighten; to throw into
disorder"
MATT. 2:3; 14:26
MARK 6:50
LUKE 1:12; 24:38
1 PETER 3:14
Principles of Application in Dealing With Depression
The following ten principles are Bible techniques which you
can use to deal with depression in your life, regardless of the cause. Each of
these topics is discussed in more detail in other notes in this series, but this
outline will give you ideas on how you can make specific application of
categorical doctrine to help with real world problems.
CONFESSION OF SIN
Personal sin leads to depression. You must deal with sin on
a daily basis by confessing and moving on. If you don't do this, sin becomes a
burden which clouds your joy, drains your spiritual energy, and destroys your
productivity and vitality. In short, sin is always depressing.
In privacy, make a list of your mental attitude sins,
verbal sins, and behavior sins. Ask the Lord to make you aware of the habits of
your own life. Respond immediately to the Holy Spirit when He uses the Word to
spotlight your sin. Name the sin to God; then rejoice in forgiveness and
cleansing and your renewed fellowship with God. All the promises and provisions
of God the Father are now available to you. Make it a spiritual habit to confess
sins whenever they show up in your life.
THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit fills you and controls your life when you
have no unconfessed sin in your life. You can trust the Holy Spirit to reveal
sin to you when you commit it, or even before. When the Holy Spirit in control,
He produces His fruit (Gal. 5:12). The fruit of the Spirit does not include
heaviness, depression, discouragement, disillusion, anguish, sadness, dejection,
or loss of vitality. Consider these points:
LIVING IN THE WORD
By Living in the Word you are constantly reminded of God's
viewpoint, of His Plan, of His provision, or His awareness of our spirit of
heaviness and what He want to accomplish in us with the testing. Living in the
sphere of human viewpoint is a source of depression. Living in the Word
gradually transplants you to a new sphere, a new environment for your life, in
which there is victory over depression.
ORIENTATION TO GRACE
Depression is often caused by people, most of the time by
people we cannot escape, or people we love, or people we cannot confront, or
people we trust. Grace Orientation includes the ability to look at people and
see them as God sees them. It includes the ability to let them live their lives
as unto the Lord, and trusting God to make His way clear to them. This technique
lets people make mistakes without your judging them. It enables you to accept
criticism without hurt or bitterness. It enables you to "esteem other better
than yourself", to "do nothing through strife or vainglory."
OCCUPATION WITH CHRIST
The technique of Occupation with Christ helps to cure
depression because it gets your eyes off your spouse, your children, your
neighbors, your friends, and yourself. Instead, as you move through the day, you
are thinking about the Lord Jesus Christ, His plan for your life, the Father's
provision for each incident in your life, and His provision of wisdom for each
decision you must make. Occupation with Christ is a by-product of the Faith-Rest
Life. Depression is a by-product of occupation with self, with life, with
problems.
THE FAITH-REST LIFE
Faith-Rest is believing the promises of God and then
entering into the "rest" phase of Christian living by claiming and enjoying
those promises. Therefore, you must search the Scriptures daily to remind
yourself of promises, and to learn new ones. You must know who and what God is
so that you will not hesitate to believe that He can do what He has promised to
do. Study the attributes of God using verses about the Essence of God. Know Him
as He reveals Himself in the Bible. Believe Him when He tells you what He will
do for you. Count on it. Let your faith rest on it. Cast your burden on the
Lord.
RELAXED MENTAL ATTITUDE
A relaxed mental attitude is based on knowing God and on
having the divine production in the soul that comes with the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. A relaxed mental attitude is one of the results of Living in the Word,
Walking in Fellowship, practicing the Faith-Rest Life, and being occupied with
Christ. All of the components of depression melt away when God provides this
attribute.
MASTERING OF THE DETAILS OF LIFE
We are all involved with details of life. Either we master
them, or they master us! If you are a slave to one or more details of life, your
thoughts are devoted to them, and they drive you. They dominate your thoughts,
your conversation, your decisions. Slavery to the details of life leads to
disillusion, disappointment, and depression.
Mastery of the details of life means that you look to the
Lord for every detail. Your happiness does not depend on people, circumstances
or things. You have the peace of God that passes understanding. You have learned
to be content under any circumstances. You can wait for the Lord's timing in
providing the details you want; you can enjoy them when you have them; and you
can remain happy when the Lord sees fit Not to provide some detail.
CAPACITY TO LOVE
There may be many depressing details that surround our
relationships with other people or the circumstances of our lives. The fruit of
the Spirit love deals with that depression by giving us the capacity to have a
Spirit-produced love for God (1 Cor. 16:22); for spouse (Titus 2:4); for others
(Rom. 12:13).
INNER HAPPINESS
Inner happiness is not possible for the believer who is
occupied with himself and his needs. Inner happiness is a state of rejoicing
based on knowing that God is everything He claims to be and that He can do what
He has promised. Inner happiness is the joy of living where every provision for
physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being is being made by God in the life
of a Christian who is walking in daily fellowship with Him.