Just hearing the words depression and Christian in the same sentence doesn’t seem to go together. I would be lying if I never wondered or found it surprising when I heard someone of faith battling depression. As if being a Christian somehow excuses one from the emotional roller coaster of life. Do you find yourself questioning if God exists? And if He is, does he care and love you the way the scriptures say he does? I was right there with you.
So if you or someone you know may be struggling with Depression as a Christian, then you’re in the right place. This isn’t medical advice I’m just sharing what helped me overcome.
There are countless reasons someone could be dealing with depression. I don’t know your story, and only you know the why, and if you don’t, hopefully by the end of this post, you will.
What you will get from this post is a list of tips that I found helpful when I was dealing with and Overcoming depression.
This post is all about How to Overcome Depression as a Christian.
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.”
Dig Deep and Reflect
With complete honesty, Do not overthink; write the first thing that comes to mind.
How often have you spent time with God and in the word lately?
Nothing to feel shame or guilty about. Is it every day? A couple of times a week? Once a month? It’s been far too long?
Looking back during my time of dealing with depression as a Christian, I remember every time I felt sad, overwhelmed, or just outright being too hard on myself, I remember not reading my bible for days on end, and I felt every bit of that spiritually.
So, I say this with love; chances are you are not spending enough time. I can’t remember where I heard the quote, “It is kinda hard to be depressed and be in the word daily.” Hearing that was a complete eye-opener and game-changer. But, we will touch more on that a little later on.
During those times when we are the furthest from God, we can find ourselves in the tug of war with our flesh. Our flesh wants to pull us in one direction while our heart for God is in another.
We are spiritual beings. When we feed on worldly trash, it can leave us feeling drained, depleted, and hungry for more. Only to be left feeling empty. The world can never give but only take from you.
But when we feed on the scriptures, on God breathe scriptures such as,
“Open your mouth wide and I will fill it with good things.”
Psalms 81:10b (NLT)
Only the Lord can satisfy that hunger and thirst and fill that void that you may be feeling.
So, Are you at war with your flesh?
Soul-Care Check-in for depression
I understand that not everyone has the luxury of hiring a therapist and that’s okay! So, I’ll ask you some of the challenging questions that I had to sit with myself and answer throughout my time in therapy. I do want to mention; that I am no therapist. But I do believe there’s nothing wrong with trying to do the work yourself in the healing process and for some it can be hard to open up to a stranger.
Doing The Work
Ok now let’s take it a step further, and start by putting your feelings and emotions into words. What comes to mind when you ask yourself,
- How am I feeling at this exact moment?
- Make a list of things you enjoy; when was the last time you did something on your list?
You know that you enjoy these things, so what is stopping you?
- What may I be feeling depressed about, and why?
Again do not overthink it; just write.
Next,
- How is my self-talk?
- How do I view myself?
- How is my mind, how have my thoughts been lately?
This will get the gears going as you start to put your feelings into words,
and Overcome Depression as a Christian.
- Has there been any traumatic event that’s recently taken place?
- Do you find that you’re comparing yourself to others?
- Do I find myself focusing on worldly things?
- Am I feeling inadequate in any area of my life?
- What are some of the distractions I am facing?
- Who or what am I allowing to influence me?
There are numerous reasons, and again nobody knows you better than yourself and the way you feel. So, you owe yourself to express those feelings out loud and on paper because your feelings matter.
Yes, it may trigger some old and new wounds to open back up; remember we’re here to do the work and heal. And if this is what it takes to get to the other side, then it must be done.
I’ve opened up… NOW what?
PRAYER CLOSET | Meetings with Jesus
We tend to always be on the go and our brain is always receiving tons of information, whether it’s the TV, music, podcasts, the kids, social media, etc. and we’re unable to not only process our thoughts and feelings but hear from God. One of the best ways I’ve found that helped me is sitting in silence and listening. By no means am I saying sit on the floor and ommmm, no.
But turning off all the noise and allowing yourself to just be; while sitting in complete silence. You can sit or lie down. But your focus is to tune your heart and ears to God. “Thank you, Lord.”
During your time of silence, allow all of those feelings and memories to come up. “Breathe”
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
Talk to Him; OUT LOUD as if He were sitting right in front of you. Release it, cry and cry some more if you have to, get mad, whatever you need to do. It’s okay to be vulnerable with God and tell him how you feel, He already knows, he’s just waiting for you to come and lay it at his feet.
He wants it ALL.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
During this process, try to pause and listen to what the Lord has to say to you. As you’re laying your pain and frustrations at his feet, tune your ears to hear from Him. Sometimes we will get an answer right away, and other times we won’t. But he will speak to you or maybe through someone else.
What I’ve learned since going to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy aka “Talk therapy” as I like to call it, is the reason why it’s so effective is that for an hour you’re actively articulating everything you’re dealing with, which otherwise would’ve been suppressed and kept inside.
This is also why I’m a huge advocate for journaling. It’s getting all of the heaviness and confusion out of your head and on paper. Releasing it from your body.
(9) Tips to Refocus your Heart & Mind to Overcome Depression as a Christian
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1. Clean up:
Take a look around at your space, Are a lot of your things not in their homes? Is the clutter starting to pile up?
Could your space be a reflection of how you’re feeling on the inside?
I know this to be true for myself, every time I start to feel overwhelmed and stressed, my space reflects just that. When I first start by cleaning the spaces around me, I almost instantly start to feel lighter, and calmer. I know cleaning isn’t the first thing you thought that could help with dealing with depression, but trust me, try it.
2. Sleep:
Tips no. 2 to help overcome depression as a Christian, Prioritize sleep like a newborn baby! Hustle culture prides itself on “all work no sleep” but if you’re sleep-deprived you’re no good for anybody. I don’t know if you know it or not, but over time, with a lack of sleep, our bodies could show signs of potential problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure, or stroke. Other potential problems include obesity, depression, reduced immune system function, and lower sex drive. Who knew lack of sleep and depression were linked?
Read the full article: Here’s What Happens When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep
( Related Post ) How to Learn How to Pray
3. Move Your Body :
This WebMD article Exercise and Depression states that “when you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine.” So be sure to get some fresh air, vitamin D, and get your body moving at least 20-30 minutes a day, and start releasing all of those feel-good hormones.
4. Silence is Golden:
Am I saying “find” time to get some alone time and have the entire house be quiet? No! Because motherhood isn’t always quiet. But what I am saying is, in all of our daily rhythms and to-do’s, cooking, cleaning, driving aka prime time to turn on a podcast or music, etc. do it in silence. Pray and talk to God but mostly listen. Tune your ears to being open to hearing what God has to say or teach you.
5. Listening to Worship music:
Music is sprinkled throughout the bible, which leads me to believe there’s healing found within it. There’s something special about listening to worship music and allowing it to minister to our spirit, leaving us in a much better state than before. The first story that comes to mind is when King Saul’s spirit was troubled, he then ordered a musician to come in and play the harp to soothe him.
“Then I will hold my head high
above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary, I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music.” Psalms 27:6
No matter what you’re facing, hold your head up high and cry out to the Lord in praise.
6. Prayer journal: Journaling in general
We kinda touched on this a little earlier when we talked about therapy. Even if you don’t have someone to talk to, you can almost get the same effect with writing. Dare I say journaling is borderline-free therapy? This allows for releasing once pent-up feelings and emotions and putting them into words, and out of your mind and body.
Have you ever felt pain in your head, neck, or shoulders whenever you’ve felt stressed or anxious about something? You get the gist. Get it out on paper.
I’ve even heard of people setting their timer for five minutes on a sheet of paper doing a brain dump then afterward destroying it.
7. Self-care:
Self-care doesn’t always have to be physical things, ie. Hair, Mani, Pedi. Sometimes it could be doing something that’ll bring you joy, such as reading, baking, or painting. Remember the list you made earlier of things you enjoyed once upon a time, now’s the time to get back in your groove and love on yourself.
Take yourself on a date, go see a movie alone, go to the beach or the park for a journal sesh and people-watch. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or break the bank.
8. Soul care Check-in:
It may feel weird at first but whenever you find yourself in a little funk, stop and check in with yourself as you would with a friend or someone you love. Ask yourself out loud, yes! OUT LOUD.
“What does ( Insert your name ) need right now?“
Think about it, if your children are having a moment, as parents we may ask them “What do you need?” Or if a friend calls and tells you issues they’re having, we offer one of two things, we either are sounding boards and just listen or we listen and then try and help find a solution to help our friend.
“I’m feeling a little…and I need…right now.”
With that, you’re getting in the habit of putting your feelings and emotions into words.
Praise. Repent. Pray for the Full Spiritual Armor of Protection and Pronounce the blood of Jesus over your mind body and soul DAILY! Ask the Lord to send his war angels into your home while you sleep to cover and keep you.
I’ll leave you with this to remember, your sword is your greatest weapon don’t ever let the enemy make you feel powerless. If you’re reading this then there’s still breath in your body. Get up and begin again. The war isn’t over but the fight is fixed in your favor. Victory is yours!
Say it with me, VICTORY IS MINE!
2 Samuel 22:3-4 says, “My God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
He is my refuge, my savior,
the one who saves me from violence.
I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.”
Read the full chapter of 2 Samuel 22 on your own, and may it minister to your heart as much as it did mine. God bless you. I love you but Jesus loves you more!
If you enjoyed the post and found it helpful, leave your comments below. Have something you’d like to add? In this community, sharing is welcomed, and you never know who could benefit from it. I’d love to hear from you!
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