Worship at 10:30 a.m.

God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions

How Can I Defeat Depression?

Faith Family,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on this blessed first full week of 2026. I continue to give thanks to our gracious God for putting you all in our lives. Your faithfulness and your enthusiasm fill my heart with joy and helps complete my hope in Christ. Every day I look forward to serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ alongside each of you and growing in our discipleship journey together.

Last week we discussed the questions “How do we recover from failure?’ This week I am asking, “How can we defeat depression?”

Depression has been surrounded by a long debate of whether it is a chemical imbalance or environmentally driven. I believe it is both. I suffer from depression. Years ago, my weight caused me to slip into a depression because I was unhappy with myself. My depression stopped me from doing anything about it. I also have moments of depression throughout the year because of compassion fatigue. But I have never let my depression totally consume me. Sure it has caused some rough patches, and a pause, but I have always looked to Christ during those times to help recover.

Rick Warren states, “Depression is one of the greatest problems in the world today. It has been called the common cold of emotional illness.” There is a story in 1 Kings 19:2 the the Prophet Elijah is threatened by Queen Jezebel, the queen of Israel. She was wicked, and because of Elijah’s standing with the people and with God, she threatened his life. Her very words we, “If you are not dead within 24 hours, I am ready to kill myself.” This caused Elijah to fear and caused him to run out into the desert where he began developing depression.

What caused the depression? Fear. Most of the times our thoughts influence our emotions. As we face difficult times, our thoughts cause us to think the worse. When we think the worse, we begin to fear. Fear can lead to stress and depression. If you always think in a negative way, you are going to feel depressed most of the time. If you see life as a dark and gloomy cloud, you are going to suffer from a depressed state of mind.

So, how do we defeat depression. Rick Warren claims, “if you want to get rid of negative emotions, you need to change the way you think. Scriptures reminds us that in a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit we can renew our minds (Romans 12:2). One key way to overcome or defeat depression in our lives is changing the way we think and respond to the world around us. 

Here are few ways in which Rick Warren believes the Bible instructs us to defeat depression.

1. Focus on the facts, not on your feelings. Too often if we don’t “feel” good about something or “feel” as if something is true, we tend to avoid it or doubt it. For example: When I received Christ in my life, I didn’t “feel” anything miraculous or invigorating. Did I do it correctly? Did it really occur? My feelings began to mislead me. However the fact of the matter is this: Christ said if we profess with our lips Jesus is Lord; and believe that He is the Son of God; repent and accept Him in our lives, we are saved. It wasn’t about feelings, but about fact. There is a lot of “fake news” out there that try to manipulate our feelings. Get the facts, and remember that Jesus can do all things.

2. Don’t compare yourself to others. This is what I believe to be an unspoken sin. We don’t think about the ramifications of comparing ourselves to someone else. However, when we compare, the deadly sins start to creep in. Greed, pride, lust, envy, wrath, and even Sloth (spiritual laziness). We become so infatuated with the success of others, we get depressed, and/or angry. When we compare our congregation to another congregation we can begin to become envious, or on the flip side very prideful. These lead to a period of separation from God, and our separation from God can and will lead to depression. Individually, we are all created the same – in the image of God. Church-wise, we have been established by, found on and grounded in Christ. We are all different, yet we have similarities. We should embrace our differences, and celebrate everyone’s successes.

3.  Don’t take false blame. Sometimes we blame ourselves for thing we have no control over. Guilt fills our minds and hearts which leads to depression. We can only control what is in our control. We need to be honest with ourselves and when we mess up, fess up. However, not everything that happens in our lives is our fault.

4. Don’t exaggerate the negative. I have talked to a lot of folks, who embellish the truth. They make it sound like what is happening is far worse than the reality. When we begin to exaggerate the negative, we begin to believe our exaggeration and fall into an abyss of depression.

Faith family, as we look at these difficult life questions, my hope is that you will begin to practice some, if not all, of these helpful tips. Remember they are tips. They are not a cure all. Sometimes we need the help of medication to deal with our depression because it is a chemical imbalance. However, we also need to cling to Jesus and live out what he teaches. There is a reason Jesus said on several occasions, “Fear not.” Fear takes us down a road that can be difficult to come back from. Cling to Jesus! Give your frustrations, concerns, and fears to God.

I pray your continued journey in 2026 to be an Acts 2 Church will be found with limited stress and an abundance of peace and joy.

Have a blessed New Year!

Pastor Frank