Christian and depressed. How is that possible?

The Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. How is it then that we can be Christian and depressed? With all that love, joy, peace, Etc., is it really possible to still be depressed? From experience, I say absolutely yes.

I've made references to depression before. Not a lot, but some.

I've written that I do have problems with depression. I even went so far as to write We can only help the broken world around us if …

That article concluded with:

So if you’re worried about sharing something personal – pray about it.  Read some stuff that others have already shared.  But know – you’re not alone.  And try to remember when you were going through whatever that personal “stuff” is.  Remember how you wish you had someone to talk to – someone who had already been through it.  Maybe you didn’t then.  

We can all be that someone who helps the broken world around us. Someone that maybe we didn’t have when we needed them.  We can be that someone for one of God’s children today.  But we can only do that if we’re willing to be vulnerable ourselves – and share what we’ve been through.

If you  we are not willing to be vulnerable with your our own brokenness, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for you us to do something of eternal significance for the broken world around you us.

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Why am I writing "Christian and depressed. How is that possible?"

I first wrote that seven years ago, back in January 2015. There was an update in March 2018. Since then, it's been viewed more than 2,000 times. It might be time for another update. Won't know until after Christian and depressed is done.

In any case, something happened last week that made me realize I need to more intentionally write about Christianity and depression. I think people don't really understand depression. Heck, I don't even understand it, so much as I've learned to recognize it and pay attention to things that trigger it. If you read About me, you get the idea I've probably been depressed pretty much my whole life. I mean, how could all that not be depressing.

Not that I've got the worst life ever. Just living here in the U.S. makes life better than so much of the rest of the world. At least, that's what we're told. If money is the gauge of a good life, I guess it's true. But then, people all over the world, even in what we see as desperate and depressing conditions, they smile just like we do.

The actual event will come in in an article I'm working on now. Not this one, but soon. First, I feel like I need to do an introduction to the topic. To let the reader know that it is possible to be a depressed Christian. That if you are Christian, and you still suffer from depression, Christianity does not cure the evils of this world. God didn't create us to be depressed.

But this is a fallen world. And depression does exist. Even amongst Christians. And it's not our fault. It's not weakness. And, to give a hint as to what's coming, it's not something that well-meaning Christians can talk us out of it. Maybe most of all, there is a distinction between the fruits of the spirit mentioned at the beginning and the feelings of depression that we experience.

Christian joy versus human depression

To put it simply, Christian joy does not necessarily negate human depression.

One, Christian joy, is spiritual. The other, human depression, is very much human, based on things like life experiences, chemical imbalances in the brain, possibly even what we eat or drink - or don't. They are two different things.

Christian joy - a fruit of the Spirit

Let's see what that Christian joy is really about. To start with, it's part of what's known as the Fruit Of The Spirit. It's described by Paul in Galatians.

Life by the Spirit

Gal 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

Life by the Spirit means trying to live by guidance from the Holy Spirit, as opposed to our own desires in this fallen world. As Paul states, the two things are in conflict with each other.

Paul then goes on to list some of the things that come from our own desires, as a result of the fall.

Gal 5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

That list, of course, isn't complete. And while we might like to read it and notice it's pretty bad stuff, and we don't hardly do any of them, life isn't so simple. Even things like gossip and what we call "white" lies or innocent omissions - they are also from our own selfish desires, but from God.

Paul then lists the fruit of the Spirit. Something many Christians have memorized. But so often I can't help but wonder, do we really understand them?

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

So there's the list.

But here's the catch. Well, the first catch. I already asked, do we understand what the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control really entail? Exactly what are they? And how do we know when we're truly experiencing any of them?

I ask that because of an experience I had. I was quite sure I, never experienced the true joy from the Holy Spirit. Another Christian told me, "Of course you have". That blew me away! How does this person who knows so little about me know that I've for certain experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit while I feel quite sure that I never did?

It was, in a word, depressing. If this person was right, then I missed something really wonderful. If he was wrong, what the heck was he trying to do to me? Either way, it just seemed so wrong that someone who's not an integral part of my life is trying to tell me I do feel joy when I know darned well that I don't!

In the years that followed, I think I've learned that I've had precious little human joy in my life and didn't have a clue what the joy of the Holy Spirit is. Further, if I don't understand what it is, then I also cannot experience it. The thing is, I feel better realizing that, because at least it gives hope for experiencing it in the future. That future came in the middle of a hospital visit that I wasn't sure I'd come home from. You can read it in God – is it time for me to go home? That's "home" as in Heaven. Obviously, that didn't happen.

And here's the second catch. Even if we don't do those things from the list of selfish desires, it doesn't mean someone else won't do them to us. Maybe we've been the victim of sexual abuse/assault, someone else's rage, lies about us, all sorts of things. All of them can be depressing.  Any one of them can be a trigger for depression, even if it's "only" something that reminds us of our past trauma.

And then Paul closes with:

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  

Notice, there's nothing in there that implies, even a little bit, that somehow the fruit of the Spirit will cancel out the damage done by the selfish desires of other people. So can we be Christian and depressed? Yes.

What about trials and temptations?

If you're Christian, you probably remember what James wrote about joy in the middle of, let's call them, bad things.

Trials and Temptations

Jas 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.