Can a Christian be depressed?

[George]

MrHumanSoul,

I believe the reason those believers felt that way was because of a fear they could lose their salvation, never coming to that place of peace promised to believers that walk in obedience to His word.

Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2

[MrHumanSoul]

i have spent many years and my childhood living in the evironment of various pastors families and the ministry and i saw lots of  deppression and unspoken pain i think the orgins were the neverending unrelentless  high

expectations placed upon christian pastors, and the congregations intolerance (conditional love?) to allow a pastors  spiritual walk  to experence the normal roller coaster of life

[thinkingal]

Depression has interesting connections with "Confession".

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

[((Michael))]

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2002 at 6:25 PM, George said:

MrHumanSoul,

I believe the reason those believers felt that way was because of a fear they could lose their salvation, never coming to that place of peace promised to believers that walk in obedience to His word.

Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2

Doesn't that verse reiterate what you just said about the believers who felt that way out of fear.  " Let us therefore fear"

[Willa]

They had no fear about themselves.  They were unsure that the others had ceased trying to be good enough to go to heaven but were relying on the work of Jesus to have done it for them.  By faith in the resurrection He places His righteousness on us and sets us aside as holy for His use.  This is how we enter the rest.

Heb 4:1  NKJV  Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 4:2  For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 4:3  For we who have believed do enter that rest,-------

Heb 4:7  again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "TODAY," after such a long time, as it has been said: "TODAY, IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS." 4:8  For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.  4:9  There remains therefore a rest for the people of God  4:10  For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

We enter the rest of God when we rest in the completed work of Christ on the cross.  We cease from our self effort to be good enough to go to heaven.  We receive by faith His perfect life of loving compassion which moved Him to die for our sins, law breaking and evil hearts.  He has completely paid the price and died in your place for your sins.  Then He rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father, praying for us.  By faith in His resurrection His righteousness is put on us. That is what impute means.

Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  .     10:14  For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Romans 4:3  For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 4:5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,  4:20 AMP No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, 4:21  Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised. 4:22  That is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).  4:23  But [the words], It was credited to him, were written not for his sake alone, 4:24  But [they were written] for our sakes too. [Righteousness, standing acceptable to God] will be granted and credited to us also who believe in (trust in, adhere to, and rely on) God, Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 4:25  Who was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our acquittal), [absolving us from all guilt before God].  5:1  THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)

God sanctifies us by setting us aside as His own for His own use.  We cannot make ourselves holy by our own effort.  He changes our hearts and desires so we want to glorify Him.  We cannot change ourselves.  All we can do is to follow the things we know He wants us to do.  We can witness to others.  We can visit the widows and orphans to do what little we can to relieve their distress.  We can allow Jesus in us to love and forgive those who have wronged us.  We focus on Him and turn our eyes off ourselves and our failures.

It is by having compassion on and serving those in need that we walk in the Spirit, which keeps us from fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.  Gal. 5:16  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Rom. 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

  

[missmuffet]

Of course a Christian can be depressed. They are human.

[Willa]

It is normal to feel depressed after a loss.  That may be a loss of and arm or leg, a friend or relative, a home or a pet.  Whenever we have a loss we feel loneliness and depression till we come to the realization that life goes on and we need to make the best of it as it is today.  But life will never be the same again.  

When we are depressed we are focussed on self for a while.  The way out is to focus on others and their need, then realizing that God is still in us and by our sides to help us through it all.  We cannot blame ourselves for what happened or blame God.  We can only accept it and go on.  

[Ezra]

47 minutes ago, Willa said:

It is normal to feel depressed after a loss.  That may be a loss of and arm or leg, a friend or relative, a home or a pet.  

Sorrow and sadness at a major loss is normal and natural. Whether or not it should lead to depression is another matter. For Christians, God has made provision that depression should not destroy us. Even in the darkest moments, God is present.

[((Michael))]

3 hours ago, Willa said:

They had no fear about themselves.  They were unsure that the others had ceased trying to be good enough to go to heaven but were relying on the work of Jesus to have done it for them.  By faith in the resurrection He places His righteousness on us and sets us aside as holy for His use.  This is how we enter the rest.

Heb 4:1  NKJV  Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 4:2  For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 4:3  For we who have believed do enter that rest,-------

Heb 4:7  again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "TODAY," after such a long time, as it has been said: "TODAY, IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS." 4:8  For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.  4:9  There remains therefore a rest for the people of God  4:10  For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

We enter the rest of God when we rest in the completed work of Christ on the cross.  We cease from our self effort to be good enough to go to heaven.  We receive by faith His perfect life of loving compassion which moved Him to die for our sins, law breaking and evil hearts.  He has completely paid the price and died in your place for your sins.  Then He rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father, praying for us.  By faith in His resurrection His righteousness is put on us. That is what impute means.

Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  .     10:14  For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Romans 4:3  For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 4:5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,  4:20 AMP No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, 4:21  Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised. 4:22  That is why his faith was credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God).  4:23  But [the words], It was credited to him, were written not for his sake alone, 4:24  But [they were written] for our sakes too. [Righteousness, standing acceptable to God] will be granted and credited to us also who believe in (trust in, adhere to, and rely on) God, Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 4:25  Who was betrayed and put to death because of our misdeeds and was raised to secure our justification (our acquittal), [absolving us from all guilt before God].  5:1  THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)

God sanctifies us by setting us aside as His own for His own use.  We cannot make ourselves holy by our own effort.  He changes our hearts and desires so we want to glorify Him.  We cannot change ourselves.  All we can do is to follow the things we know He wants us to do.  We can witness to others.  We can visit the widows and orphans to do what little we can to relieve their distress.  We can allow Jesus in us to love and forgive those who have wronged us.  We focus on Him and turn our eyes off ourselves and our failures.

It is by having compassion on and serving those in need that we walk in the Spirit, which keeps us from fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.  Gal. 5:16  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Rom. 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

  

I think the fear of the Lord is not something we should discount. I think it is arrogant human pride that refuses to accept the phrase "Fear of the Lord" and reduces it to a reverence. But I think that is another thread................Just so I know where you are coming from Willa, does a believer in Christ try to live a holy life? Or does the believer in Christ who is supposed to have a new nature, just go with the flow in his faith.

[saved34]

Yes. We can have moments of extreme sorrow like any other human. The difference is we have the Comforter himself. In our darkest moments of despair he gently leads us out of it.