Depression is real, and if you are fighting it you are not alone. Depression seems to have been the bane of many of life’s great leaders. In the Bible, Moses, Elijah, David, and Job all had to deal with it. In the secular world, Sir Winston Churchill used to call depression his ‘black dog’, and Ernest Hemingway referred to it as ‘the artist’s reward’.
President Abraham Lincoln battled depression and suicide all his adult life. There were times when for his own safety Lincoln would not allow himself to carry a knife, for fear that he would hurt himself, or worse. Read about Lincoln turning to the Bible to relieve his depression. Let the Scriptures help you just like they have helped so many of us. Sometimes depression can be a purely spiritual thing, read this – Depression Is a Spirit – It Must Be Fought with the Word of God.
Depression is the physical and emotional result of hopelessness – the ‘feeling‘ of hopelessness. We live in a world devoid of hope, and depression is the emotional product of that reality. The only thing that will actually change one’s life sufficiently as to destroy the cause, mechanics, and effects of depression is God’s hope and His word of hope. The answer is to get God’s hope back inside of you.
Hope will let you again see the ‘future positive possibility’ of your life. Without seeing it you will have no motivation or strength. The good Word of God, and the good word of others to you, can change the outlook and condition of your heart. Fight for God’s outlook with all you have. Fight it with the Word of God. (Also, confess the scriptures on Hopelessness.) Anyone who is among the living has hope.
God’s hope encourages, motivates, and keeps you on the road to faith, peace, and victory. And if you suffer from deep ongoing depression, get help. And please read this – Helping Others Is God’s Prescription for Depression. Send me a comment, we love you and we want to help you. You are important and you have value. You are not alone. With God’s help, you will climb out of this hole.
Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down (depression), but a good word cheers it up. Proverbs 12:25 Holman Christian Standard Bible
These scriptures on depression will give you hope and will build your faith. Confess and meditate on them to win the fight against depression. The key is not losing Hope. Allow the hope of God to seep back into you. Remember, there is a real Person (God) behind each and every one of these promises. He promised them to you for a reason – to help you.
Deuteronomy 31:8 – The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 33:27 – The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
2 Samuel 22:17-22 – He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters; (18) He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. (19) They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. (20) He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me. (21) The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. (22) For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
2 Samuel 22:29 – You are my lamp O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light.
Ecclesiastes 9:4 – Anyone who is among the living has hope.
Psalms 9:9 – The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Psalm 27:14 – Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 31:22,24 – You heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help… Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 34:18, 19 – The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (19) A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.
Psalm 37:23-24 – If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumbles, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 43:5 – Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.
Psalm 55:22 – Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
Psalm 62:5 – Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
Psalm 126:5 – Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
Psalm 143:7-8 – Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I’ll lift up my soul.
Psalm 147:3 – He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 145:14 – The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
Proverbs 12:25 – Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down (depression), but a good word cheers it up.
Isaiah 26:3-4, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusts in Thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. (Perfect means complete. If I keep my part of the promise by staying steadfastly focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, He will keep His promise to give me His perfect peace. See also Philippians 4:6-7 below)
Isaiah 35:10 – And the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away
Isaiah 40:31, But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 53:4 – Surely he took up our sicknesses and carried our sorrows.
Mark 9:23 – Everything is possible for him who believes.
Romans 4:18-22 – Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall they seed be. (19) And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: (20) He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. (21) And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able to perform. (22) And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
II Corinthians 7:6-7 – Nevertheless, God, that comforts, those that are depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; (7) And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
Philippians 4:6-7 – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
James 4:8 – Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:10 – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
2 Peter 2:9 – The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials.
1 Peter 4:12 – Dear Friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
1 Peter 4:13 – But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed
1 Peter 5:7 – Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Read how Lincoln Turned to the Bible to Manage His Depression and other articles: Scriptures Against Hopelessness – Scriptures Against Worry – New Testament Scriptures on Faith & Believing – Do God’s Promises Cover What You Want?
Comments
Why do you ask David?
I live in Colorado, and no for right now my parents are my legal guardians
It is proper knowledge. Since I am a minor. It is a very controversial law, but it is in place. I didn’t talk to my last therapist at all because of that.
ColdandWarm, if you don’t mind saying, in what state do you live? Is someone other than your parent your legal guardian?
I am doing therapy again, because, my doctor said I was depressed again, but I am having trouble with some legal stuff. So while doing counceling with minors, if the legal guardian asks to know what the therapist and child have been talking about the therapist is legally required to tell the parent. I believe that when I turn 14 I can sign papers and I can have my confidentiality rights instead of my legal guardian, but in the meantime I do not want to talk if all I say is going to be reported to my mom. I need some tips
ColdandWarm, that stinks, how are you supposed to open up and be honest when everyone can know what you say? I wouldn’t want to say anything either. I am very surprised. I don’t know where you live but if I were you I would call the Legal Aid Society or the American Civil Liberties Union, their numbers should be listed or easy to find online, just to verify that information. Good luck.
…
I love performing for many people. I’ll perform at hospitals a lot as well, and every Tuesday I’ll go out and play on the sidewalk to get money for charity. It is soooo rewarding and a lot of people will come up and tell you theur story, and it’s just so neat to hear about some of the people you are trying to help! My father was in the military, and so was my father figure, and I would tell them thank you every day. They are often very overlooked
I get that advice more times than I can count lol, no but, I have been to a
psychiatric hospital due to suicidal intentions. I was there for a couple years, and got help from therapists within that complex. So I have seen therapists I’m the past, and I see my school one right now, but do not inform her on everything. She wants me to see a grief councelor, but that is just not possible with my parents right now. And she does give me referrals, but my parents don’t want to pay for counseling. Thank you very much for having me on your prayer chain! That means a lot.
I did a performance on violin today as a tribute to veterans at a bluegrass acoustic festival thing. It was super fun, and rewarding.
ColdandWarm, what a great thing to do, provide music for veterans, they are so often overlooked and appreciate everything. I’ve gotten into the habit of thanking someone in uniform for their service and they often thank me for my support. That’s something you should pursue, just as you should not be discouraged by the difficulties you’ve encountered when you’ve tried to get help. You must not stop trying, you deserve to feel good and be well. God does not make junk!
Umm….did I miss something?…
ColdandWarm, if you are referring to the nonsense postings by people who have nothing better to do, just ignore them. I wanted to tell you that you are on the prayer chain at my church. I also asked my pastor what practical advice I could give you, we know prayer is powerful but I was looking for some solid action to recommend. Of course he feels you should see a therapist or someone else who is trained to help you. I told him I didn’t think your family was really supportive and he feels you should speak to your school counselor who should be able to give you referrals. Keep smiling!
Thank you Sherry. God bless you
Stay focused on Him
Kay, it is okay, I completely understand and am okay with the whole gender thing. And I have not read anything of hers, but I do know who she is. She is a German or Russian novelist and playwright, is that correct? I understand when you say that only God deserves to have my life lived for him, but I do not know how to not be “responsible ” for friends and family. I am the only one here for my little brother right now. I am the only one here for some people to talk about. I need to keep doing that or it is my fault if they fall. (My father figure was not my step father, and nvr will be, I know that’s harsh, but try and trust that I have my reasons) my father figure was not blood related. I do have a journal, mostly to keep my temper, well right now I don’t because I need to get another one, but I do keep one. Now as for the why we take what strangers say to heart is because it is someone you have never met telling you they care about you, that they don’t need to know you or know what your like, but they love u anyway. At least that is what I believe.
Faithmechanic, I honestly did not fully understand the victim, Victor comment. About loving me…I can’t…for years I have thought of myself like this, I am told I am how I think of myself every day at home. I can’t think of myself anymore highly… About the whole “I do not believe it is natural” thing, I do not mind all of these things happening to me as much as some might think, for these things give me insight into what others are feeling, the more I have been through the more I can understand people and try to help. Now I am not saying that all of this doesn’t suck, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be depressed and crying every night ect. , but there is a reason God let all of these things happen. I do honestly believe that.
Love ya’ll…♡
Your comment had me crying David. Thank you very much. I needed someone to say that…I don’t agree with how you said that I have value and I am worth it, but I am working on trying to believe that. I have many adults working with me on that as well. I really really really thank you for saying what you did. I needed to hear it. I have a lot of trouble seeing myself as others do, because of my prior failures. I LOVE helping people, and I have talked people out of killing themselves or hurting themselves, but I have also failed. The ones that I have failed with haunt me, I was given the responsibility to try and save a life, but I couldn’t or didn’t try hard enough. Two lives so far are on me, and my fault, for if I tried harder they could’ve had hope, and would have still been here. I have also ruined my relationship with my step mother, which was heart wrenching and something else I will never forgive myself for. I have a series of people who left me because they don’t care, and I don’t blame them I wouldn’t care about me either. One example is my father figure. My dad is not I’m my life as he should be, so I had someone that would take care of me. This was around the time that I was self harming everyday, wouldn’t take my meds making it difficult to breath and had anorexia. He let me cry on him, made me eat, and take my meds. He made a deal with me that if self harmed or didn’t take my meds or didn’t eat he wouldn’t take his heart meds. I cared about him too much to let him do that, so I have been doing all of the above. One night I was talking to him over the phone and I was scared that he would leave me, but he said I will never leave you I will always be here for my girls. Next day he left. He made it appear as he had cared, but he didn’t, and I wouldn’t either if it were me. Those three things play a huge part in why I see myself as lower as some people would. But as I said before, I am working on it, along with others
ColdandWarm. first, please take my past use of “guy” to be a generic thing, good for either gender, but
I will be more careful. So, how good is David at telling the truth! I can empathize with your feelings of unworthiness and guilt, I don’t know why we are more receptive to words from ‘strangers’ than from people we know in person, but it’s true, the words of our site leader, Rex, affected me tremendously when I was at a low point. Have you ever heard of Ayn Rand? You are probably too young unless you love to read but her philosophy, and basic theme of her novels, is that we may love someone enough to die for them but not to live for them. Do you catch the difference? Your life is your own. Never live it for another. We all, especially young like you, must veer from this a bit in daily life but never ever live for other people. The only one who deserves your life is God, you are not responsible for your friends or family. Your stepfather may have had a very good reason for leaving and I suspect he didn’t have the courage to hurt you face to face, which is indicative of his loving feelings for you, not his lack of them. So what you do with that is stick it in you “life book” and vow that you will never ever do like that to another person. You can write it down in your journal – if you don’t have one, please start one, it’s a good place to store all your emotions and hopes and hurts and dreams. And you can write down all of our sage advice, right? Smile! And give Xena an extra treat.
ColdandWarm, Kay, and David – I debated commenting yesterday (and wanted to) but I am glad I did not. You all did better than I ever could. My own tough love is this – one cannot be both a victim and a victor at the same time. Choose to be one or the other. Religion, most of the time, tries to be both, and ends of being neither.
Our past is not our future, unless we want it to be. It is not easy at times to put on the ‘new man’ in Christ but it is always better when we do, and for all concerned. You are valuable, so treat yourself as valuable. It is not always easy. Sometimes we must ignore all that is around us to do it. Treating yourself as valuable is not pride but true humility before God. To do anything less is disobedience. We love you. Now, it is time for you to love you.
I do not believe it is natural for all this hurt and drama to happen to a young person like yourself. My heart breaks because of that. You should be protected instead of challenged like this. I don’t pretend to understand it all, but I do know this – you were created, and are being created, for a great purpose. Now, rise up and develop fully for that purpose. You and those you help will be so glad you did. And…the puppy will be glad too. We do love you, now, go get’m tiger. Rex
You were correct at assuming I am a young lady.
ColdandWarm, it just dawned on me that I might have made a serious error tonight. In my prior post, I referred to you as a young lady, but then saw another commenter refer to you as a guy. I read through your prior posts and I just had the idea that you are a teenaged female. I’m terribly sorry if I made a mistake with your gender.
Why would someone like you be worth it to anyone, you ask? That is an interesting question, ColdandWarm. I don’t know you, so I might be wrong in what I’m about to say to you. I’m just going off of a gut feeling, based on some of your recent, heart wrenching comments. First of all, I am glad and relieved you are still with us even though you are going through some dark, difficult, and scary times.
In our world, there are things that are highly sought after. Things that have great value and are worth much. How do we know some things are worth so much? By what others are willing to give up, or trade, in order to have them. Take an old, rare coin for example. If I had one, I probably wouldn’t have too much difficulty in finding a coin collector who would be willing to give up, or trade, perhaps thousands of dollars for something that may have been worth just a dollar when it was minted many years ago.
You — young lady — are highly valued. Not because of anything you’ve done, or said, or what you look like. It’s because of who Jesus is. God, the creator of the universe, the giver of life, came to Earth in the form a man called Jesus of Nazareth. This Jesus knew the value of a human soul to the point of being obedient to His father in heaven that He gave up, or traded, His life for yours. So how valuable does that make you? What is your worth? It is immeasurable. Priceless.
So let’s go back to your question. Why would someone like you be worth it to anyone? Hmmm.
Satan, as you may know, is a liar. He is the father of lies. There is no truth in him. When he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, he wasn’t loud, obnoxious, or aggressive in his approach to them. Rather, I believe the bible indicates he was sly, quiet, and cunning. All he needed to do, it seems, is plant a seed of doubt. How did he do that? By taking God’s words and putting a question mark to them. The account of this is in the book of Genesis. After Eve explains to Satan what God’s instructions to her and Adam were, Satan counters with a simple, but crippling question. “Did God really say that?” (I’m paraphrasing a bit). That question was asked to contort the truth of God’s words and plant a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind, which eventually lead to catastrophe for her and Adam, as well as for all of mankind since then. What we can learn from this is to not put a question mark where God has placed a period.
My wish for you, ColdandWarm, is that the Holy Spirit would bring you to the realization that you were bought with a high price — that you have value — that you are worth it. Period! You are worth it not just to God, but to certain people who know and truly care for you. People who need you, either now or will in the future.
I hope this helps you and that you are encouraged. And if so, then may you, in turn, be an encouragement to others.
I would never hurt anyone on purpose…I just…I’m lost…it hurt to see that I was hurting people…especially when I know how they feel…do I remember how I felt? I still feel like that. I ran out of class crying because I miss her today. I don’t want to make people feel like that…The thing about my family…oh..don’t even start me on that. They honestly don’t care. I won’t hurt myself anymore.. or try to drown myself…
I’ve been getting a bit of tough love today. From three people…. I need it I guess though… I will try to go back to my pastor..
Okay, ColdandWarm, maybe now is the time for some tough love! We care enough about you to keep trying to get you to see how valuable you are. Remember how much you miss your friend who passed in November? Well, why would you inflict that pain on other people if you did the same? I am an extreme animal person and for Pete’s sake, guy, what the heck would happen to your puppy without you? You are its whole world and how could you even think about abandoning him like that? You say your family doesn’t believe but that doesn’t mean they don’t care about you. You are an awesome guy and I just cannot believe you would deliberately hurt them. And you know what? We are very nice people, too, so why would you want to hurt us? Because believe me, if I didn’t have you to think about, I would be very hurt! You said your pastor had helped you, please go back to him. Please.
Worth it to anyone*
I am … *puts my head in my hands* Why would someone like me be worth it anyone
What are you doing, you ask? You are finding out you have value — that , believe it or not, you are worth so much to other people — that others (and your puppy) need you in their lives. I hope you are encouraged by this.
My friend called me while in tears and said she was scared she would lose me…guys…what am I doing…I know how she feels…I know how it is to be afraid that you will lose someone and you’ll come home and see the message.. what am I doing to people…what am I doing to myself…
I do still have my puppy. *smiles a tiny bit*
Kay thank you. That means a lot. I am working on trying to believe that
But..giving up would make everything easier…and I have a history with self harm and suicide attempts so I will try… but I’m scared old habits might take over..