Biblical Therapy to Overcome Depression
Speak seven positive Scriptures in the present tense over yourself every day. Perfect examples include:
Believe and then Declare
After believing that you will see the Lord’s goodness while you are still living, you now have to declare what you believe.
You have to declare your positive beliefs even if things are still currently very negative in your depressing situation.
From the Bible we can see that Paul quoted Psalm 116:10 which says, “I believed and therefore I spoke”, when he said, “It is written: I believed and therefore I spoke” and so with that same spirit of faith, I also believe and therefore also speak. (2 Corinthians 4:13-14)
Therefore, you also have to believe and therefore speak that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living even if it has not yet begun to materialize in your life because Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
Therefore, first believe it in your heart and then speak it with your mouth because the tongue has the power of life and death. (Proverbs 18:21)
 |
| I know I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. |
We can also see that in the book of Joel that God said, Let the weak say, I am strong. (Joel 3:10)
The people were living in tough times, you could almost call it a depression and God told them to Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. (Joel 3:10)
Similarly, you also have to prepare for war against depression. To prepare for this war you have to:
1. Wake up
Arouse yourself from the slumber that depression brings making you feel that you do not want to get out of bed let alone do anything else. Force yourself to wake up physically and spiritually to your situation so that you can fight depression successfully.
2. Draw near
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)
Draw near to God by praying and reading the Bible every day. Force yourself to pray even if you do not feel like praying. Force yourself to read the Bible even if you do not feel like reading it. Force yourself to obey the commandments even if you do not feel like obeying them.
3. Beat your plowshares into swords
This means that the people were to convert the sharp tools that they used for tilling their land into sharp weapons to fight the enemy.
Likewise, you should also convert your sharp tongue into a sharp weapon for fighting the enemy called depression.
You are to convert your tongue by speaking Scriptures over yourself and your situation since the SWORD of the spirit is the WORD of God.
Therefore stop cutting other people with your catty comments. Stop bringing yourself down with belittling statements and stop cursing your situation.
4. “Let the weak say I am strong”
Even if you are still weak, say “I am strong” as you believe on God to strengthen you. Even if you are still depressed, say ”I am filled with joy” as you wait on God to fill you with joy.
Utilize the power that is in your tongue for your own good and do not fight against yourself by speaking negative things about yourself and your situation.
- This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)
- I shall see the goodness of the Lord in this land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)
- I will not grieve today for the joy of the Lord is my strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
- I will hope in God for I shall still praise Him for His help. (Psalm 42:5)
- God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
- God is healing my broken heart and binding up my physical, mental and emotional wounds. (Psalm 147:3)
- I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
 |
| This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. |
Social Therapy to Overcome Depression
Help the Needy
Volunteer your time and energy to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit prisoners (Matthew 25: 34-36) and help other less fortunate members of your society for by helping them, you will also be helping yourself by taking your mind off your problems.
Even if you are still depressed because you don’t have shoes, find someone without feet and help them walk a few feet and you will definitely feel better about your shoe-less situation.
Activities to Overcome Depression
1. Start each day by declaring the following perfect affirmations to overcome depression:
- This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)
- I shall see the goodness of the Lord in this land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)
- I will not grieve today for the joy of the Lord is my strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
- I will hope in God for I shall still praise Him for His help. (Psalm 42:5)
- God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
- God is healing my broken heart and binding up my physical, mental and emotional wounds. (Psalm 147:3)
- I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)
Then get on with your daily duties and find something to do to rejoice about that day. Infact everyday do something good that makes you feels good.
2. Spend some time each week helping someone who can never pay you back. Look around your home, your workplace or even online and see what good deed you to help someone.
Christian Depression Stress Management
2/2011
ReplyDeleteGod's word most powerful, I'm glad I was directed to this web page, thank you. We the call "depressed" I often wonder why; isn't the always smiling faces a reality of life today? I do have faith in God and belive his written words' but I don't go around with a plastered smile on my lips constantly, doesn't make any sense to me; we are to be watchmen/women.
Thanks for sharing your views.
ReplyDeleteI think the depressed are called "depressed" because they have "low spirits" i.e the feel sad as opposed to a person who is elated or happy.
They also have low energy, etc. (See http://www.christianstressmanagement.com/2011/01/holistic-depression-treatment-course.html)
As for smiling, people are made differently. There are those who a smile comes easily eg Joel Osteen and thank God for diversity because we can also be smiling watchmen/women.
The word “Stress” actually relates to wear and tear as when the rubber meets the road on a tire or the brake pads pressing up against the rotor in the wheel. The term as it applies to living organisms was first introduced by Hans Seyle in the 1930’s who defined it as the consequence of the failure of an organism (human or animal) to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Thus stress symptoms are the manifestation of a chronic state of responses to stress triggers that are actually benign. Even a thought can set off the same response mechanism that would be in play while standing in front of a hungry lion. Hence, Seyle’s definition still reaches to the heart of stress management; the idea of the response being inappropriate and engaging in a process of altering ones misperception of pending disaster or imminent danger.
ReplyDeleteThanks Moshe Sharon for your very informative comment.
ReplyDeleteYour definition of stress being similar to rubber meeting a road is apt because stress is caused by change and in this instance the road is forcing the rubber to change from round to flat and to bear weight.
This is similar to stress in our lives for instance when a job loss forces us to change from having enough money to being flat broke and bear the mental weight that comes with having to figure out how to pay bills without an income.