How can going to church, praying, and helping others help fight depression?

Depression is looking inward at yourself. A person spends their time thinking about how bad things are for themselves. This persists to a point where they are pretty much consumed with their problem(s). Depression can isolate a person from the world and draw them into feelings of despair and hopelessness.

However, God did not create us to be alone but to live with others. So depression is a condition that contradicts God’s best for us. To help fight depression, God has given Christians these activities.

(1) When we look outside of ourselves by way of prayer to God, we naturally move from inward to outward. Praying is an opportunity to share your burden with God. The God of the Bible is the Creator of the universe (Genesis 1:1, Exodus 20:11) who not only cares for us (1 Peter 5:7), but with whom nothing is impossible (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:27, Luke 18:27). 

(2) When Christians go to church, they are surrounded by fellow believers who also struggle with similar problems. This is why we are called to fellowship with one another (1 John 1:3, Philippians 3:10). Fellowship implies a bond between people. The bond between believers is not only in and through Christ, but a bond of fellowship of sufferings in Christ (John 16:33, 1 Peter 4:12–13). 

When we are together in church, others can encourage us in our hardships (Philippians 2:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 5:11). It is also in church where we can hear the word of God taught and preached which may be used of God to build up our faith, encourage us, strengthen us, refresh us, and or give us the grace to continue on. So God tells us not to forsake church (Hebrews 10:25). 

(3) Finally, when we minister to (serve or help) others, we are naturally looking outside of ourselves at the needs of others. When we look at the needs of others, we are no longer thinking about ourselves. In fact the Lord tells us that when we do good to others we are doing good to ourselves (Proverbs 11:17). 

If you feel however, that your depression has you thinking about harming yourself or others, and you are a Christian, please communicate immediately with your pastor, church clergy, or biblical counselor. If the urge is overwhelmingly strong, contact an emergency hotline for assistance.

Written by Jerry Smith

Feature image source: nik-shuliahin-251237-unsplash