Do I have to repent for my depression?

A good topic, when I was having the same question.

boxman144 said:

I've been depressed for a while now. Everything just feels dark. I feel guilty for being happy.

So I finally talked to a fellow Christian about it and he told me that I have to repent for those thoughts.

Do I? I know it's bad but am I commiting sin for being depressed?

He said "I urge you to depart from such mindsets asap and repent of those kinds of thoughts, especially from feeling sorry for yourself for those things of the past or whatever is driving those kinds of feelings.

He also said it is a very UNGODLY thinking pattern and is the result of demonic forces working in my life.

I don't necessarily feel sorry for myself, I just feel like everything is bleak and drab, and I've been praying and praying and praying for help and no answer.

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Hello, boxman!
2 Thessalonians 1:2!

Your situation: Depression

Your emotional state:
1. "feels dark"
2. "I feel guilty for being happy"
3. "I just feel like everything is bleak and drab"

Your reactions:
1. "talked to a fellow Christian about it"
2. "I've been praying and praying and praying for help"

Your expectation:
Prayers to be answered.

Your attitude:
"no answer" (impatience)

Rest assured that you'are not alone in experiencing depression. In the USA, there are so many people, men in particular, struggling with this medical illness. I completely understand how you feel. The question now is how do you deal with it. Are you still able to eat proper meals? Do you still sleep normally as you used to? Do you still enjoy the activities you usually do? Examine yourself. It would be good for you if your loved ones can support you in your dealing with your depression. Recovery is much faster because of the positive supports they can provide for you. Otherwise, see your doctor.

On the spiritual side, you can be rest assured that God knows what you are going through and HE is much more willing to lift you up from your condition. Why not open your Bible and read the following healing words of the LORD (please just try):
1 John 3:20 - don't let your heart condemn you - leave it to God
Psalm 103:14 - God knows what you are - HE will show HIS compassion on you
Matthew 7:7-8 - God is always there for you ready to answer your prayers - be patient
Genesis 35: 3 - God answered Jacob's prayer - place your trust and confidence in HIM.

I will pray for you tonight before I retire. If you need spiritual assistance, I encourage you to be strong in asking for help. True followers of Christ leaves the door open for the needy.

Christ love,
TLF.

boxman144 said:

I've been depressed for a while now. Everything just feels dark. I feel guilty for being happy.

So I finally talked to a fellow Christian about it and he told me that I have to repent for those thoughts.

Do I? I know it's bad but am I commiting sin for being depressed?

He said "I urge you to depart from such mindsets asap and repent of those kinds of thoughts, especially from feeling sorry for yourself for those things of the past or whatever is driving those kinds of feelings.

He also said it is a very UNGODLY thinking pattern and is the result of demonic forces working in my life.

I don't necessarily feel sorry for myself, I just feel like everything is bleak and drab, and I've been praying and praying and praying for help and no answer.

Click to expand...

Have you been to a doctor or counselor? Sometimes Depression is a medical problem

The Lost Follower said:

Hello, boxman!
2 Thessalonians 1:2!

Your situation: Depression

Your emotional state:
1. "feels dark"
2. "I feel guilty for being happy"
3. "I just feel like everything is bleak and drab"

Your reactions:
1. "talked to a fellow Christian about it"
2. "I've been praying and praying and praying for help"

Your expectation:
Prayers to be answered.

Your attitude:
"no answer" (impatience)

Rest assured that you'are not alone in experiencing depression. In the USA, there are so many people, men in particular, struggling with this medical illness. I completely understand how you feel. The question now is how do you deal with it. Are you still able to eat proper meals? Do you still sleep normally as you used to? Do you still enjoy the activities you usually do? Examine yourself. It would be good for you if your loved ones can support you in your dealing with your depression. Recovery is much faster because of the positive supports they can provide for you. Otherwise, see your doctor.

On the spiritual side, you can be rest assured that God knows what you are going through and HE is much more willing to lift you up from your condition. Why not open your Bible and read the following healing words of the LORD (please just try):
1 John 3:20 - don't let your heart condemn you - leave it to God
Psalm 103:14 - God knows what you are - HE will show HIS compassion on you
Matthew 7:7-8 - God is always there for you ready to answer your prayers - be patient
Genesis 35: 3 - God answered Jacob's prayer - place your trust and confidence in HIM.

I will pray for you tonight before I retire. If you need spiritual assistance, I encourage you to be strong in asking for help. True followers of Christ leaves the door open for the needy.

Christ love,
TLF.

Click to expand...

That's a Winner my friend
Ronit

I too struggle with Depression and Anxiety. I take medication, I pray and study Bible. I try to limit junk food (which is a tough one I might add.) I limit news (negative reports), caffeine. I take a multivitamin,and work on my arts a crafts which I then donate. This gives me a sense of purpose.
Being on here helps too

Ronit said:

Have you been to a doctor or counselor? Sometimes Depression is a medical problem

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Hello, Ronit!
2 Corinthians 1:2!
I only been to a doctor once. I was prescribed with multi drugs to treat my depression. Afterward, I was on my own because I did not want my body to get used to medicines. I learnt how to deal with my depression by accepting the fact that I it came to me. I took the pains that it brought me but I taught myself to manage them rather than avoiding them. This attitude helped me a lot. But you know what, what I am proud of now is that it was God who made me strong in dealing with my depressions. By HIS word I was healed. Am I now depression-free? Not at all. For as long as I live, I will have bouts of psychical illnesses and diseases at some point in my lives. What matter the most is my attitude in dealing with depression. Thanks be to God for showing me HIS compassion. Truly the God of Israel is the God who cares for his people (Psalms 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7).
Thanks a lot for your question.

Christ love,
TLF.

Why some people believe that there is God and some do not?

The Lost Follower said:

Hello, Ronit!
2 Corinthians 1:2!
I

had ​

only been to a doctor once. I was prescribed with multi drugs to treat my depression. Afterward, I was on my own because I did not want my body to get used to medicines. I learnt how to deal with my depression by accepting the fact that I it came to me. I took the pains that it brought me but I taught myself to manage them rather than avoiding them. This attitude helped me a lot. But you know what, what I am proud of now is that it was God who made me strong in dealing with my depressions. By HIS word I was healed. Am I now depression-free? Not at all. For as long as I live, I will have bouts of psychical illnesses and diseases at some point in my lives. What matter the most is my attitude in dealing with depression. Thanks be to God for showing me HIS compassion. Truly the God of Israel is the God who cares for his people (Psalms 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7).
Thanks a lot for your question.

Christ love,
TLF.

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Amen!- Ronit

boxman144 said:

I sleep normal. I don't enjoy much anymore. I just feel like I'm a robot. I still eat normally.

I have patience. I have too MUCH patience. How long do I have to wait for a damn answer?I I'M DONE! I've been waiting and praying for so long and so many tears but it doesn't matter I'm fine.

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The difficulty is this is a biological state not a spiritual state.
There are strategies one can put in place, like looking for positive and optimistic things in every situation, valuing the small things, being grateful for the blessing we all receive but take for granted. Over time these work away at our systems, and the cloud can lift. It is also possible that some people have this state as their default experience.

There are people who can help, socialising, exercise, projects, things that help us succeed and bring value. My depression was because of my family situation which was overwhelming seeing peoples lives fall apart. In the Lord and growing in Him brought healing, having a family, learning love, sharing, giving, becoming open and vulnerable changed who I was.

By exploring with others, we often can discover life that takes us away from these defeats and struggles, but most of all, knowing Jesus is the most healing thing we can ever possess.
God bless you

No need to do so.

It's more like a physical issues since the ups-and-downs in emotion is often a product of chemical imbalance, or hormone issues: like PMS for the ladies, recently due to PMS and stress I am always feeling extremely irritable. I've been taking anti-depressants daily due to mild depression which has been around for several years and often I have to be aware of trigger factors avoiding outbursts: toxic people and instagram posts from some people from my former church, where I was treated as an outsider and not really respected as an individual. Recently my religious OCD has gone quite bad that even reading the Bible (though ok bit by bit) could trigger my inner fears, like the former church members laughing at me saying my suffering today is God's punishment for me leaving them after unhappy experiences there. FYI, they're a very small non-dem church leaning on the fundamentalist side, and the members are mainly 50+ year old upper-middle to upper class people, also quite exclusive.

As the situation becomes more stable in where I live (recently there're cases of school outbreaks) I'm going back to church spending some quality time calming myself down, a healthy spiritual life with people is extremely beneficial (of course with social distance). But please, never trust YouTube or conspiracy-ish sites for resources or Bible reading tools since very often they're downright false teachers who preach fear. The worst cases are them being far right extremists or conspiracy theorists spreading hate around (Christian symbols are quite often abused by the far right, eg among the extremists in Germany and Poland), so don't mess up in these channels.

LovebirdsFlying said:

By analogy: Do I need to repent of having diabetes? No, it's a disease. But unhealthy lifestyle choices that contribute to it must go. Those behaviors, not the disease itself, require repentance.

Therefore: Do I need to repent of having depression? No, it's a disease. But the unhealthy thoughts that contribute to it must go. I, for one, need God's assistance not to STAY stuck in that mindset.

We can repent of negative thoughts. We can repent of self-destructive behavior. But the illness itself, no, that's not something we repent of.

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I disagree. Negative thoughts are not sinful. Nor are the things which create depression.

ENTER IN + CHOKE THE WORD = UNFRUITFUL
Mark 4:19
Have you been a victim? What are you now?

boxman144 said:

I want to start playing piano and guitar and drums and continue making more art.

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Play music for God. It always gets me out of a rut or down state.

The simple answer is 'No', depression is a human state of mind usually caused by factors that we have very little control over.

Hello Boxman,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns with us. I am so sorry you are dealing with such a difficult situation. These forums are great for sharing burdens, venting, and asking for advice. Let me tell you my brother that you are important, valuable and a person worth of dignity. I’m truly sorry for what you are going through. Even in the darkest moments in our lives, there is always hope. No, I don’t think that you have to repent just because you are suffering depression. But I encourage you to seek help. Brave people are those who seek for help outside the problem. I don’t think that you committing sin because you are depressed. For a person to commit a sin, it has to be a serious matter with full knowledge that is seriously wrong prior to committing the act with the full consent of the will. On the other hand, depression, or depressing thoughts that come in to us can be from a particular situation in life that has affected us. Depression comes from that we do not accept the past. However, let me tell you my friend that we can’t change the past but we can learn from it. We can learn from our mistakes and start again. The person who suffers depression tends to see all dark, and the bad side of things. Is there some event or situation that you are encountering problems with in your life? A psychologist or psychiatrist can detect if you are suffering for depression or not. They are able to determine if the person has a psychological ailment or if that not the case, it could be something spiritual. Although the person who told you that you need to repent, but do not fall into feeling like everything is ‘dark’. But there is something you can do, you can take charge to control what is causing you to be depressed through therapy. Perhaps have you ever thought to seek counseling or therapy? Counseling or therapy works through things like this. You are worthy and valuable of fighting for. Therapy can help you to determine what is causing depression and find solutions to overcome it. In spite of this situation let me tell you that you are important and valuable person and you are a person of worth of dignity. God loves you very much because He made you as His likeness and image. You may be having a hard time believing this, but that doesn’t disqualify you from being loved and valued for exactly who you are. I encourage you, to be thankful for what you have. Maybe you can create a list of the things what you have (for example: for life, your health, family, friends, etc.). Being grateful for what we have help us to recover the joy and peace. Let me tell you my brother in Christ that you do have a purpose in life. Maybe it can sound like a cliché however things happen for a reason and in the near future you can take out the good from this situation. This list-ly is extremely important for you are going through: Looking Up From The Stubborn Darkness | A Listly List. Please let me tell you my friend that you are not alone in this battle. Hope this helps. Sending you hugs. I will keep you in my prayers, my brother in Christ.