Sin and Depression

*Disclaimer: those of you who know me well know that I don’t always follow my own advice. Frankly, when the darkness hits, it’s really difficult to remember these truths and put them into practice. I don't always do it myself. One of the reasons for my writing is that I will come back to these truths when I am down. The beauty of grace is that God never quits on us even when we deserve it. 

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Now that I’ve discussed the fact that depression itself is not a sin, we need to discuss sin. 

Frankly, depression OFTEN leads to sinful responses. Darkness can be very overwhelming. It’s very easy to give in to the feelings. Feelings are POWERFUL. They try to dictate to us how to live. Especially when everything in my mind tells me, compels me in a direction that is dark. Unless you’ve lived this experience, it’s difficult to describe.

This conundrum was probably the most difficult problem I faced (and still do sometimes). How do you separate the sin from the depression? I was living sinful patterns of response to my depression. I knew it, but I could no more control the depression itself than I can control the sun rising. So therefore, it's easy to "excuse" the sinful responses. This mess can be difficult to work on.

There is no easy answer. I often joke that separating the sin from the depression can be like trying to separate an item that has been super glued. It’s messy, hard work. But we ask the Father to show us our sin and then strive to live in obedience, as much as we are able with His help. Ha, sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, thankfully, I was given some very practical small steps as I struggled through these issues.

I pray the next few blog posts will help sort these issues out and give practical ways that you can help someone struggling with this darkness. Hang in there with me.

A little reminder for you before I go:

Remember, the best way to dispel darkness is with light! You may keep feeling like the darkness is suffocating, but THERE IS LIGHT. It's easy to believe there's light when life seems lighter. But it's much harder when life seems dark and dreary. But the source of light hasn't changed!

John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”