John K. Jenkins Sr - A Cause and A Cure for Depression

I want to talk about depression today. I’m titling this message «A Cause and a Cure for Depression.» Let me start off by reiterating that I said a cause; let me back up. It’s «A Cause and a Cure for Depression.» That is the name of this message. It 's not the only cause, and it’s not the only cure; I want to approach it and give you some biblical solutions to depression, what may cause it, and what can help you with it. Now, I don’t want you to hear me say, because I’m not saying, «Don 't take your medicine.» I want you to look at your neighbor and say, «Take your medicine.» Look at your neighbor and say, «Take your medicine.» Don 't hear me saying, «Don 't take your medicine.» Fantastic! Tell your neighbor he didn’t say, «Don 't take your medicine.» Tell your neighbor, and look at the person on the other side, and ask, «Did you take your medicine today?» So, I don’t want you to hear me say that. I’m not saying that. What did I not say? If the truth be told, mental health has become a prominent issue nowadays, and we all need to have therapists, considering the circumstances we are facing and the challenges around us, including the pandemic, health issues, death, losing jobs, and children acting out, along with wives and husbands losing their minds- we all need a therapist. Somebody said we all need to talk to someone. Look at your neighbor and say, «Yep, you look like you might need to go talk to your therapist.» But while we are laughing, it’s true. These are unsettling times, and I wanted to talk about this because, in my own personal life, I have had seasons and times of depression. I have wrestled with depression, but one day God opened my eyes to His truth: how much He loved me and cared for me, and it helped free me from the bondage of my depression.

But here’s the truth: let me tell you this too; even though I’ve been freed, every now and then that demon tries to rise his head and talk to me again, and I have to remind him that I’m not listening. Some of you need to learn to apply these same truths. Someone look at your neighbor and say, «You’ve got to learn how to do the right thing too.» I must say this multiple times throughout the course of this message because I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me. I am not telling you not to take your medicine. What did I say? There are many reasons why people are on medications; one of them is you might have a chemical imbalance in your body that causes you to be depressed, and that medicine might offset whatever is incorrect in your chemical balance. So by all means, take your medicine! Go ahead, tell them! Wait, wait, wait-find somebody who you think needs to hear that. You might have to get up and walk around and go to where they are sitting; go tell them, «Take your medicine,» and while you 're telling them, please make an appointment with your therapist. Amen. There 's nothing wrong with that. Mental health issues are serious.

So, having laid that foundation, how do you know if you’re depressed? What are the symptoms? There are many signs: constant sadness, irritability-some of you right there-irritability, the inability to sleep, low energy or fatigue, feeling worthless, feeling guilty for no reason, significant weight change, difficulties in concentrating, loss of interest in activities; just a whole string of things can be symptoms and characteristics that indicate you might be depressed. They say if you have four or more of these characteristics, there’s a good chance that you are depressed. Now, I recognize some of these things because in my own life, growing up in a loving family-my mother was amazing-but still, even in a loving home, I felt unloved, insignificant, and unimportant. I felt depressed. I felt like the world hated me. I could go on listing a dozen things. I felt suicidal; I wrestled with all those emotions. But I thank God today that there is hope in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Whatever you do, don’t stop talking to someone and don’t stop taking your medicine.

Now, having said that, what I want to do is give you some biblical approaches and see what the Bible suggests. I won’t keep you long -though you might say that now, but at three o’clock, y’all could get up and walk out of here! Okay, I hear you! Go with me to Proverbs chapter 12. Proverbs chapter 12-say «Amen» when you get there. Proverbs chapter 12, and I want to read verse 25. Here 's what it says: «Anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression.» Stop right there. There 's one of the reasons the Bible tells us that causes depression: anxiety. Now, anxiety is defined in this Hebrew word-listen carefully-as fears that are derived from your thought life, fears that come from the way you think. Your distress, your unease- all of it contributes.