Dealing With Depression As A Christian

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Comment by MandyJ on July 19, 2008 at 6:12pm

Hello everyone. I have been suffering lately, but today has been so much better. I prayed to God and He sent me an answer. I want to share something with all of you that I wrote in my Philosophy class today on our post. I hope it helps you like it has helped me. God bless. Praise God!


You know, at first, I posted that I think ethical egoism is just selfish. I have read more in our book and have decided to change my view a bit. I think if someone "only" purely thinks of their own interests and never the interests of others, then yes it's selfish, but it hit me when I was reading about the feminism views of ethics that it isn't wrong to care for our own needs before the needs of others "if" it makes us more equipped to help others. We have to fill up our own well before we can fill up the wells of others. We can only give so much before we are just plain drained and have no energy left for ourselves or anyone else for that matter. I think so many people, myself included, feel guilty when we don't give more to others. I thank God that I read about ethical feminism in our book because it made me realize that when we don't take care of ourselves, we can't very well take very good care of anyone else. It's actually selfish not to take care of ourselves, whether it's spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.. If we don't, then we can't be the very best person we are capable of being for others too.

I liked the part I read about Jesus saying we need to help the weak too. Think about it. We are all weak when it comes down to the plain and simple facts. Sure, we'd like to think we are always strong, but we aren't. Every person is weak to some extent. It could be from something like their temper, mental conditions, or just inner turmoils that we each have in an individual sense. Something makes us weak. It could even be a relationship with another person. So by Jesus telling us to help the weak, in essence, He is telling us to help ourselves too. We must help ourselves in order to help other weak people. My faith has brought me to a greater understanding too because the well I spoke about earlier, for me, involves first filling up with the strength of God. He fills me up. I also get filled up with His wisdom and through taking care of my mental capacities, etc...

I just had to share this with everyone because it made me feel so peaceful when I realized it. Thank God for His wisdom too.

Comment by MandyJ on July 10, 2008 at 12:35pm

I wanted to ad Isaiah 43 because we all need a reminder once in a while about just who we belong to and what He is capable of. Thank you Kathleen for the inspiration to put this here too. Thank you God for everything. Praise the Lord!

Comment by MandyJ on July 10, 2008 at 12:33pm

Isaiah 43: 1-3



But now, this is what the Lord says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.

Comment by MandyJ on July 9, 2008 at 8:32pm

I just wanted to share that I feel better than I did. I realized after watching a movie called "Behind the Walls" (or something like that) that I had some unconfessed sin and forgiveness to deal with. Once I asked God to be in control and I surrendered it all to Him I felt a weight taken out of my heart. I hope this helps.

Comment by MandyJ on July 8, 2008 at 3:07pm

Hello everyone. I opened my e-mail this morning and found this message. I subscribe to dailydevotionals and boy this sure made me smile. I wanted to share this with all of you too. :-)
RETURN TO THE LORD YOUR GOD, FOR HE IS
GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE, SLOW TO
ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE.
( JOEL 2:13 *NIV )

Dear Mandy,
There are times when our faith runs thin and we may
even find ourselves walking far from God. When that
happens Mandy, it is because we moved away from
Him, not because He moved away from us.

Now if that happens to you remember it is written:
BUT IF FROM THERE YOU SEEK THE LORD YOUR
GOD, YOU WILL FIND HIM IF YOU LOOK FOR HIM
WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR
SOUL. ( DEUTERONOMY 4:29 )

After all, our Heavenly Father is always there with open
arms to welcome us back, and His love for us can never
be shaken. For it is written: THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS
BE SHAKEN AND THE HILLS REMOVED, YET MY
UNFAILING LOVE FOR YOU WILL NOT BE SHAKEN
NOR MY COVENANT OF PEACE BE REMOVED,
SAYS THE LORD, WHO HAS COMPASSION ON
YOU. ( ISAIAH 54:10 )

So Mandy, if you ever find yourself walking far from
God remember that your return trip back to Him starts
with a prayer, and with all of your love. Then soon you
will again be saying: "I WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT."
( 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7 ) and feeling that closeness to
God once again! Amen.

In HIS Love & Service,
Pastor Allen

Comment by MandyJ on July 7, 2008 at 10:28pm

Hello everybody. I'm new here. I was reading some of your posts, and you all seem to know exactly how I feel right now too. For the past few weeks I have been depressed and irratable as can be. The weird thing is that I am usually pretty patient about most things in general, but I am finding that even when I pray right now my heart just isn't into it the way that it has been in the past. I feel alone. I can't talk to anyone I know about how I feel because they just won't get it or they don't take me seriously. Any advice?

Comment by sue pelham on June 24, 2008 at 7:45am

Hey everyone. first off I wanna thank you all for letting me be a part of this group.. seems like I battle depression alot to.. I have been married 17 yrs and I have a daughter and I am happy but then at times i get so sad and wanna be alone.. I know we are not spose to go back to the past but my childhood was terrible and hard and I look back at times and that gets me down.. I so wish at times things would be differnt.. ontop of that my dad is 86 and he is beginning to get the stages of altimers and me taking care of him plus my family is taking a toll on me.. I am only 34.. I hope to make friends cause i could use a listening ear alot of times..

Comment by John Hodge. on June 18, 2008 at 2:56am

5pmz77

Comment by rix on June 11, 2008 at 4:24am

Thank you Jesus for leading me to this group. It is a wonderful feeling to be free once again from the depression I suffered only a couple of months ago. The attacks were intense and I had nowhere to turn when God in his mercy lead me to this site. Here I found a friend who gave me encouragement to step out and let Jesus once again take me out of the hell I was unnecessarly suffering. I am now walking in victory through Jesus, released into ministry. I encourage anyone suffering the crippling effects of depression without finding help to participate in the discussions in this group. Feel free to email Jen or myself for any reason. We are currently putting together resources for confidential communications and are committed to serving you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Also we are gathering information and resources for obtaining help with the emphasis on scriptural soundness and dependence on God to heal us of this attack. Stay tuned and participate. You have nothing to loose but depression and may gain the kingdom of God. Don't loose hope. May God bless us all. 500 billion blessings on all who read this.

Comment by Mandy on June 2, 2008 at 6:50am

Dear Marysol; though I am not a physician, I am a nurse and have worked in critical care and dealt with many issues of depression. As well as my own personnal experience.
Some of the signs of depression: Inability to sleep or sleeping to much; abnormal eating pattern from to norm. Inability to concentrate. Feelings of no control. Feelings of impending doom; although for no reasons at hand. Fatigue, irritability, and physical symptoms like headaches and stomach problems.
However; to understand if this is depression or if it is a grieving process, take a look at the past events of your life over several months. Has any major events occured. They can even be joyous ones; such as a child leaving graduating and leaving home. But it usually has to do with a major change in life style.
If there has been no major event that has changed over the past several months; look at your relationships with those who mean the most to you. Is something bothering you with someone important?
After you have examined these things and you can come up with nothing; then seek a counselor. Talk to the counselor and tell your feelings to the counselor. Most often, if you work; the company may have a: EAP (employee assist program); which offers several sessions a free counseling. These counselors are liscensed, and pick up on possibility of depression. If they feel this is the case, they will possibly then refer you to a pschyciatrist.
I myself went to my ESP, on the advice of one of my peers. I did not even know I was depressed. It was the others who saw it in me, that I worked with. I didn't feel sad. I was always frustrated, couldn't concentrate, could not sleep and was always exhausted, I also always felt like something bad was going to happen. After seeing the counselor, and going to the pshychiatrist, I was placed on anti-depressants. It took a while to get the right combo of meds. But when they did. I was amazed at how drastic the changes in me occured.
The worse part about depression is that it affects your relationships with others; including the Lord. So I pray you will seek assistance. and I pray that you will feel better.
It does sound like depression, but I don't know all your circumstances. I pray for you to have the strength to seek assistance. May God restore you and strengthen you. In Christian Love. If you have any further questions; Iwould be more than happy to help you.

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