Does the Christian have obligation to live happily

Sérgio Junior · Oct 26, 2018

I know that we Christians should rejoice in the Lord according to Philippians 4: 4, but lately this is only a rule, I can't have this rejoicing mentioned of Philippians 4, I have many problems with depression, I am a melancholic guy, most of the people I live with always say the same thing - "A Christian can not be sad or depressed," some have even said that such feelings are caused by an "evil spirit" which I find extremely absurd, absurd because know that depression is a psychopathological factor. Many times I wish to die because of this burden.

Doug Melven · Oct 26, 2018

Sérgio Junior said:
I know that we Christians should rejoice in the Lord according to Philippians 4: 4, but lately this is only a rule, I can't have this rejoicing mentioned of Philippians 4, I have many problems with depression, I am a melancholic guy, most of the people I live with always say the same thing - "A Christian can not be sad or depressed," some have even said that such feelings are caused by an "evil spirit" which I find extremely absurd, absurd because know that depression is a psychopathological factor. Many times I wish to die because of this burden.

It's not that Christians must live rejoicing, happy lives, we get to be happy.
When someone knows they are forgiven of all there sins, how can they be anything but happy?

When Paul wrote Philippians, he did it from a prison cell.
I can't imagine what he had to go through to be able to write a letter.
The prisons they had aren't like the cushy prisons we have today. They were much more restrictive.
And this letter in 4 chapters has the words joy or rejoice 25-30 times.

Archer_on_Fire · Oct 26, 2018

No. Christians experience a full range of emotions.

And clinical depression is an illness. Our minds can get sick and Christians can get sick.

Jeshu · Oct 26, 2018

Depression is not caused by an evil spirit, such is a horrible thing to say or think, please stay well away from thinking like that. Especially because a lot of bad life is fired at us being depressed both from within and from without as it is, no good making it even worse.

For a Christian it is not sinful to be depressed. Rather God's love goes out to us in particular according to the bible for He binds up the broken hearted and loves bringing relief for those crushed in spirit. Psalms 34

Finding ability to resist the negative feelings of my depression, brings me much joy. For years i was just a victim of the negativity that dwelt within because i suffer from a depressive illness. If we don't fight our depressive feelings and thoughts with God's promises then in my experiences we get overrun by our depression, and such is a sad state to be in.

A renewed faith in God's love brought me hope, a hope which has not disappointed me but brought a lot of ability to keep on going, as well as much psychological healing. Thankful joy now lives in my heart again, no matter how depressed i must be, because i know that with Jesus i can overcome the misery and stay on top of it. Such abilities have brought me much thankfulness, joy and love and are there for you as well.

So yes it possible to be a joyful believer in God while depressed.

Be of good courage.

Psalms 34
I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

2PhiloVoid · Oct 26, 2018

Sérgio Junior said:
I know that we Christians should rejoice in the Lord according to Philippians 4: 4, but lately this is only a rule, I can't have this rejoicing mentioned of Philippians 4, I have many problems with depression, I am a melancholic guy, most of the people I live with always say the same thing - "A Christian can not be sad or depressed," some have even said that such feelings are caused by an "evil spirit" which I find extremely absurd, absurd because know that depression is a psychopathological factor. Many times I wish to die because of this burden.

Thank you for sharing with us the challenges you've been facing, Sérgio. Love you, Brother! And God bless you in Christ!

blackribbon · Oct 26, 2018

It is a falsehood that Christians won't ever feel sad or depressed. Jesus wept. He also got angry and destroyed the merchant's table that were in the temple. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray because he was depressed and scared. God invented all the emotions we feel. It is fine to feel all them appropriately.

We are called to be content and joyful...which is not the same thing as happy. I can rejoice that I will someday see my husband again in heaven but that does not even begin to mean I am happy that he died or happy trying to live without him and raise our kids alone. My life is within God's plan but it was not supposed to be this way (...as in when people were created before original sin).

If you have clinical depression, then it is ridiculous to believe being ill is a sin. Clinical depression isn't anymore "sinful" than having chicken pox or a pimple is. However, it is our responsibility to keep our eyes on God and focus on being thankful and trusting God even when or emotions don't match what our mind knows to be true. Mother Teresea is said to have been depressed a lot of the time. She often didn't even feel loved by God but she never stopped acting like she was loved and passing on that love to the very poor and neglected people of Bangladesh...the untouchable caste. When your emotions are not working the way they are supposed to, focus on what your mind knows to be true. Sins are actions (like thoughts), not feelings. I hope that you are getting treatment for the depression because you limit your own life and your personal ministries when you are always feeling low or emotionless.

Sérgio Junior · Oct 28, 2018

Doug Melven said:
It's not that Christians must live rejoicing, happy lives, we get to be happy.
When someone knows they are forgiven of all there sins, how can they be anything but happy?

When Paul wrote Philippians, he did it from a prison cell.
I can't imagine what he had to go through to be able to write a letter.
The prisons they had aren't like the cushy prisons we have today. They were much more restrictive.
And this letter in 4 chapters has the words joy or rejoice 25-30 times.

But it is still possible for a Christian to live an unhappy life in a state of immense sadness Brother, even knowing that his sins have been forgiven and canceled, and there are also depressed Christians or with others psychological illnesses who doubt that they have been forgiven by God and experience some feelings that cause doubts to the point of making the depressed Christian continue to mulling over this guilty feeling.

I know the context and the situation in which Saint Paul wrote Philippians and how he encouraged with joyful words the Christians of the church of Philippi to be always cheerful, but despite this, many of us and some of our brothers and sisters simply do not think that is reason enough to rejoice.

Sérgio Junior · Oct 28, 2018

Archer_on_Fire said:
No. Christians experience a full range of emotions.

And clinical depression is an illness. Our minds can get sick and Christians can get sick.

That is true Sister, but unfortunately there are many people who think that just because we are Christians we must be forced to be immune to diseases.

Sérgio Junior · Oct 28, 2018

Jeshu said:
Depression is not caused by an evil spirit, such is a horrible thing to say or think, please stay well away from thinking like that. Especially because a lot of bad life is fired at us being depressed both from within and from without as it is, no good making it even worse.

For a Christian it is not sinful to be depressed. Rather God's love goes out to us in particular according to the bible for He binds up the broken hearted and loves bringing relief for those crushed in spirit. Psalms 34

Finding ability to resist the negative feelings of my depression, brings me much joy. For years i was just a victim of the negativity that dwelt within because i suffer from a depressive illness. If we don't fight our depressive feelings and thoughts with God's promises then in my experiences we get overrun by our depression, and such is a sad state to be in.

A renewed faith in God's love brought me hope, a hope which has not disappointed me but brought a lot of ability to keep on going, as well as much psychological healing. Thankful joy now lives in my heart again, no matter how depressed i must be, because i know that with Jesus i can overcome the misery and stay on top of it. Such abilities have brought me much thankfulness, joy and love and are there for you as well.

So yes it possible to be a joyful believer in God while depressed.

Be of good courage.

The saddest thing is that many of our brothers say it or think this way and I try my best to stay away from those thoughts.

I wanted some my brethren in Christ from other to think so, but many of them equate depression as a sin or even as a wicked spirit, and think that it is not consistent for a Christian to go through afflictions or be crushed in spirit according to the Psalm you quoted Brother.

For me sometimes it is difficult to have this predisposition or ability to resist negative feelings, but when I have the strength to resist these feelings I also experience some of that joy. I understand, I am also attached to one of these promises (as the promise of to spend Eternity with Christ) that also help me to resist the lack of hope that comes with such depressive thoughts.

I want to be able to have strength and endure this affliction through this hope that is in Christ, and I hope never to be disappointed because of crises of faith that are caused by depression.

Sérgio Junior · Oct 28, 2018

2PhiloVoid said:
Thank you for sharing with us the challenges you've been facing, Sérgio. Love you, Brother! And God bless you in Christ!

Thanks for the comment Philo, I'm glad that I have you to help me in the philosophical questions about our faith. I love you too, my brother.

Soyeong · Oct 28, 2018

Sérgio Junior said:
I know that we Christians should rejoice in the Lord according to Philippians 4: 4, but lately this is only a rule, I can't have this rejoicing mentioned of Philippians 4, I have many problems with depression, I am a melancholic guy, most of the people I live with always say the same thing - "A Christian can not be sad or depressed," some have even said that such feelings are caused by an "evil spirit" which I find extremely absurd, absurd because know that depression is a psychopathological factor. Many times I wish to die because of this burden.

I recommend this video:

And this longer lecture:

Sérgio Junior · Oct 28, 2018

blackribbon said:
It is a falsehood that Christians won't ever feel sad or depressed. Jesus wept. He also got angry and destroyed the merchant's table that were in the temple. He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray because he was depressed and scared. God invented all the emotions we feel. It is fine to feel all them appropriately.

We are called to be content and joyful...which is not the same thing as happy. I can rejoice that I will someday see my husband again in heaven but that does not even begin to mean I am happy that he died or happy trying to live without him and raise our kids alone. My life is within God's plan but it was not supposed to be this way (...as in when people were created before original sin).

If you have clinical depression, then it is ridiculous to believe being ill is a sin. Clinical depression isn't anymore "sinful" than having chicken pox or a pimple is. However, it is our responsibility to keep our eyes on God and focus on being thankful and trusting God even when or emotions don't match what our mind knows to be true. Mother Teresea is said to have been depressed a lot of the time. She often didn't even feel loved by God but she never stopped acting like she was loved and passing on that love to the very poor and neglected people of Bangladesh...the untouchable caste. When your emotions are not working the way they are supposed to, focus on what your mind knows to be true. Sins are actions (like thoughts), not feelings. I hope that you are getting treatment for the depression because you limit your own life and your personal ministries when you are always feeling low or emotionless.

The problem is that there are people, especially many of our brethren in the faith who believe in these false ideas that "a true Christian doesn't grieve, doesn't become depressed and doesn't become discouraged" and these same people think that God only invented joy and that sadness is an emotion of devilish origin. The Problem is that often some of these bad feelings become so inappropriate because they last longer than we would like them to last

Agree Sister, whenever I say that rejoicing in a few moments is not quite the same as being happy people think I'm crazy to say it. I'm sorry for your husband, but what comforts us is that we will see him in heaven, but as you said when the people we love are no longer present in this life it is impossible to feel the happiness we felt when they were here with us.

Yes, I agree, but the problem is that many people do not see depression as a disease of the same type as chicken pox. This is true, many times unfortunately our emotions overshadow this truth.

Jeshu · Oct 29, 2018

Sérgio Junior said:
For me sometimes it is difficult to have this predisposition or ability to resist negative feelings, but when I have the strength to resist these feelings I also experience some of that joy. I understand, I am also attached to one of these promises (as the promise of to spend Eternity with Christ) that also help me to resist the lack of hope that comes with such depressive thoughts.

I want to be able to have strength and endure this affliction through this hope that is in Christ, and I hope never to be disappointed because of crises of faith that are caused by depression.

i'm not saying i'm always happy - depression doesn't allow that - but my heart is joyful in the Lord and in the things that He brings my way.

Jesus is using depression to shape me, and i know that a lot of depressed people learn patience, love, kindness, self control, faithfulness, gentleness and long suffering, not just me.

Seeing our lives take shape in Christ helps battling depression and makes me feel joyful in Him.

Be of good courage brother Jesus will make something beautiful out of your life in the long run. Please keep your eyes peeled on Him.

Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.

Archer_on_Fire · Oct 29, 2018

Sérgio Junior said:
That is true Sister, but unfortunately there are many people who think that just because we are Christians we must be forced to be immune to diseases.

Very sad. No Christian is immune to disease of any kind. I would be worried about someone who was that ignorant.

RDKirk · Oct 29, 2018

Back during WWII, a journalist was embedded with General George Patton's 2nd Armor Division in the last years of the war as it clawed its way into southern Europe toward Germany.

Patton was a tough commander who drove his men hard, requiring much of them every day, more than other commanders. War is already hell, and Patton was a demanding demon.

Yet, this journalist discovered that Patton's men had quite high morale. Now, by "morale" this didn't mean they were grinning and whistling dixie all day long. Combat is miserable, life in combat is miserable. All day long it's miserable.

Did they gripe about the weather? Sure. Did they gripe about the food? Sure. Did they gripe when their tanks broke down and they had to jerry-rig to keep going? Sure. But the journalist found that they didn't complain about the mission. They didn't complain about their leadership. What the general demanded, they gave willingly. They gave all they could give, willingly.

That's good morale--what we call in Christianese "joy."

The journalist asked them, "Your general is the toughest general in the theater--why is your morale so high?"

They told him: "Because our general is going to win this war."

Doug Melven · Oct 29, 2018

Sérgio Junior said:
But it is still possible for a Christian to live an unhappy life in a state of immense sadness Brother, even knowing that his sins have been forgiven and canceled, and there are also depressed Christians or with others psychological illnesses who doubt that they have been forgiven by God and experience some feelings that cause doubts to the point of making the depressed Christian continue to mulling over this guilty feeling.

I know the context and the situation in which Saint Paul wrote Philippians and how he encouraged with joyful words the Christians of the church of Philippi to be always cheerful, but despite this, many of us and some of our brothers and sisters simply do not think that is reason enough to rejoice.

1 Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

We who are in Christ have the LORD Jesus Christ living inside of us.
We can choose to magnify that fact and have joy. Or we can magnify our circumstances and be depressed.
If you say I am belittling depression, you would be half correct. I choose to magnify Christ in my life, and there is nothing to hard for Him to deal with, including severe depression.
I am not saying you can just automatically be free of depression, but you can be.
Nobody became severely depressed in a day, it took time.
So the solution may take time as well.

Some people in the Bible who could have been severely depressed.
David. In 1 Samuel 30 he had come back from a battle, him and his men were very tired. And they found out some people had taken all there belongings, there wives and children.
Then David's men wanted to kill him.
At this point David had a choice, depression which is what most people would do. Instead verse 6 says David encouraged himself in the LORD. Then he encouraged his men and went and got everything back.

Paul. If anybody had a reason to be depressed it was him.
In 2 Timothy 4 he talks about how people forsook him, but the LORD stood with him (16-17)
Earlier in the chapter he says how Demas left him, others he had to send away and only Luke was with him.
He was looking at winter coming on, asking for a cloak, but wanting the manuscripts more.
Can you see note of depression when he says these people left?
And this is not even counting all the other bad stuff that happened to him. 2 Corinthians 11:24-28

Job. This man lost everything but his life, wife and 3 friends.
All of his livestock and children gone in a day. then he gets boils all over his body.
And if that wasn't enough, his wife is telling him to curse God and die.
Job sat for a week doing nothing but using a potsherd to scrape the boils off.
Then his 3 "friends" instead of comforting him in his time of grief accuse him of living an ungodly life and that is why all this has happened to him.

Jesus. He was about to go through the worst thing imaginable, having the sin of the entire world laid on Him.
No wonder He prayed that this cup may pass from Him and He sweat drops of blood.

All of these had moments of depression. But they chose not to stay there.

DavidFirth · Oct 29, 2018

I have depression. It took my psychiatrist a few tries to get my medicine right. Once you are on the right meds the world looks a whole lot less depressing. People are usually depressed due to their brains not creating the chemicals needed to help you think positively.

You need to see a psychiatrist who can prescribe meds who is a Christian. It is important to get a Christian doctor because if he/she isn't a Christian they don't see the world like you do and can't properly treat you.

I hope that helps you. God bless you.

Tempura · Nov 1, 2018

Happiness is not an obligation. Christ is supposed to be a comfort, a rock to lean on, not some maniac forcing us to smile with threats. It's about finding comfort, real comfort, while we set our sights to the next life. That's what it means, it's an encouragement. And who needs encouragement? All of us. If we're all perfectly happy, righteous and glorious by ourselves, we wouldn't need or want it. We wouldn't even want Christ. Such is our nature.

Here, there will be plenty of heartbreak, melancholy, sadness, illness, you name it - not to mention our own failings in spirit and deeds that bring us down.

So be encouraged, friend, and bring your troubles to Christ. He won't turn you down just because you're not faking happiness. Christ isn't about appearances or faking anything, He's about truth, about hope. Christ will absolutely take in a weary, saddened heart. You can, should, and will be yourself. There is no faking it with God. There is no putting up a performance with God. This is not a bad thing. In time, you will learn to hope in Christ's name, instead of worrying about trivial, weird rules our minds make up when we're still too fearful and trying to do everything ourselves, instead of trusting that God already did it. And when you continue to hope, that "happiness" inside you will grow. Perhaps you won't be jumping around and singing, perhaps you'll be melancholic, perhaps you'll be ill. But you will have hope.

Said a prayer for you. Don't worry. Everything is fine, Christ has won. God loves us more than we can love each other or ourselves, and He will see that we will make it home. We can't do it. He can. You can breathe, no need to fear.

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."

Porpoise · Nov 1, 2018

Doug Melven said:
1 Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

We who are in Christ have the LORD Jesus Christ living inside of us.
We can choose to magnify that fact and have joy. Or we can magnify our circumstances and be depressed.
If you say I am belittling depression, you would be half correct. I choose to magnify Christ in my life, and there is nothing to hard for Him to deal with, including severe depression.
I am not saying you can just automatically be free of depression, but you can be.
Nobody became severely depressed in a day, it took time.
So the solution may take time as well.

Some people in the Bible who could have been severely depressed.
David. In 1 Samuel 30 he had come back from a battle, him and his men were very tired. And they found out some people had taken all there belongings, there wives and children.
Then David's men wanted to kill him.
At this point David had a choice, depression which is what most people would do. Instead verse 6 says David encouraged himself in the LORD. Then he encouraged his men and went and got everything back.

Paul. If anybody had a reason to be depressed it was him.
In 2 Timothy 4 he talks about how people forsook him, but the LORD stood with him (16-17)
Earlier in the chapter he says how Demas left him, others he had to send away and only Luke was with him.
He was looking at winter coming on, asking for a cloak, but wanting the manuscripts more.
Can you see note of depression when he says these people left?
And this is not even counting all the other bad stuff that happened to him. 2 Corinthians 11:24-28

Job. This man lost everything but his life, wife and 3 friends.
All of his livestock and children gone in a day. then he gets boils all over his body.
And if that wasn't enough, his wife is telling him to curse God and die.
Job sat for a week doing nothing but using a potsherd to scrape the boils off.
Then his 3 "friends" instead of comforting him in his time of grief accuse him of living an ungodly life and that is why all this has happened to him.

Jesus. He was about to go through the worst thing imaginable, having the sin of the entire world laid on Him.
No wonder He prayed that this cup may pass from Him and He sweat drops of blood.

All of these had moments of depression. But they chose not to stay there.

I think the depression you are talking about isn't what the OP is talking about. People use the term 'depression' all the time to mean sadness, grief, loneliness, hopelessness, or other negative emotional states. After a loss or when dealing with life stressors, most people will experience feelings of depression, and some will bounce back quickly and others take longer to recover.

But none of this is clinical depression, which is not an emotional state but a complex illness that has low mood as one of its symptoms. Hypothyroidism is a similar medical illness which also causes low mood, fatigue, muscle aches, and loss of appetite. So depression is kind of like that, but it's a broader diagnostic category which doesn't specify the physical cause, which can be different from one case to another. As one example, researchers have identified a genetic defect called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency as one of the causes of depression, with the defect found in 76% of patients with treatment-resistant depression, and they were able to treat it with a supplement (L-methylfolate).

Doug Melven · Nov 1, 2018

Porpoise said:
I think the depression you are talking about isn't what the OP is talking about. People use the term 'depression' all the time to mean sadness, grief, loneliness, hopelessness, or other negative emotional states. After a loss or when dealing with life stressors, most people will experience feelings of depression, and some will bounce back quickly and others take longer to recover.

But none of this is clinical depression, which is not an emotional state but a complex illness that has low mood as one of its symptoms. Hypothyroidism is a similar medical illness which also causes low mood, fatigue, muscle aches, and loss of appetite. So depression is kind of like that, but it's a broader diagnostic category which doesn't specify the physical cause, which can be different from one case to another. As one example, researchers have identified a genetic defect called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency as one of the causes of depression, with the defect found in 76% of patients with treatment-resistant depression, and they were able to treat it with a supplement (L-methylfolate).

No, I am talking about all depression.
Nobody was living a happy and normal life and then all of a sudden they were clinically depressed.
Something happened to make them depressed and they were unable to get past it. Then that depression became a mountain that overwhelmed them.
Chemicals can be released into the brain from bitterness and ingratitude.

A quote from "Psychologytoday"
The wide variety of effects that gratitude can have may seem surprising, but a direct look at the brain activity during gratitude yields some insight. The final study I’m going to share come from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH researchers examined blood flow in various brain regions while subjects summoned up feelings of gratitude (Zahn et al,2009). They found that subjects who showed more gratitude overall had higher levels of activity in the hypothalamus. This is important because the hypothalamus controls a huge array of essential bodily functions, including eating, drinking and sleeping. It also has a huge influence on your metabolism and stress levels. From this evidence on brain activity it starts to become clear how improvements in gratitude could have such wide-ranging effects from increased exercise, and improved sleep to decreased depression and fewer aches and pains.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prefrontal-nudity/201211/the-grateful-brain

Does the Christian have obligation to live happily

Nominal and agnostic Christian

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Bought by His Blood

Downhill Prevention!

Not a newbie

Nominal and agnostic Christian

Nominal and agnostic Christian

Nominal and agnostic Christian

Nominal and agnostic Christian

Well-Known Member

Nominal and agnostic Christian

Bought by His Blood

Active Member

Alien, Pilgrim, and Sojourner

Well-Known Member

Saved by the blood of the Lamb

Noob

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads