Did you know even Christians get depressed?

Which Bible character do you think you relate to most? Ever thought about that? What if I told you that it might be Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ and handed Him over to be crucified? I’ll explain in a minute.

Yesterday I wrote to you about a day in the life of a pastor. Did you know that many pastors struggle with depression? Maybe you have, too. And most of the people I’ve counseled are dealing with depression, often from some kind of abuse.

Depression is always triggered by loss of some kind, especially trauma. And it stems from a point of hopelessness, where deep down you feel like some issue is just too big for you to resolve. Many times this leads to a feeling of guilt, but more commonly it’s actually false guilt. More on that in just a minute.

Science has been finding out for years just how much your brain and body chemicals are interconnected with your thoughts and how much each affects the other. And they’ve found that even cognitive therapy and changing your thoughts can physically change your body’s chemicals and rewire your brain. Here’s an interesting article from back in 2009 in “Psychology Today” talking about this very discovery (caveat that I don’t subscribe to this doctor’s Buddhist suggestions).

Of course, the Bible has said this all along. Proverbs 25:11, for example, says in a fancy way that a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Or Proverbs 15:13, 16:24, and 17:22 which speak about the healing power of laughter and joyful words, as well as numerous other passages that remind us to encourage one another.

The point is about changing your thoughts, your viewpoint, the way you look at things. Sometimes we need help to do this. But I think this is the importance of putting on spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18), especially the belt of truth (which holds everything together) and the helmet of Salvation (which protects our mind and thoughts).

Guilt vs False Guilt

Many times our struggle with depression is over guilt vs false guilt. We are wired to feel bad when we do something wrong. That’s guilt. But many times we feel bad when we shouldn’t, when we really didn’t even do anything wrong. This is false guilt.

Both of them can affect us in similar ways and influence our choices and behaviors. Both of them can have devastating results, but false guilt can be worse. I know a lot of people who feel like they’re never good enoughat anything they do, so they want to give up all the time. Why would they feel that way? Probably because someone told them that, and they believed it.

It’s not true, though. There are some things they can’t do, but there are other things that ONLY they can do. False guilt can be more difficult to overcome than actual guilt because there is no way to resolve something you didn’t do.

Back to the question of which Bible character you are like, I want to look at two people who dealt with their guilt in different ways. Judas Iscariot was a guy always looking for the next best thing. For whatever debatable reason he became disillusioned with following Christ, he agreed to hand Jesus over to the authorities to be crucified. He later felt so bad about it that he hanged himself.

Now take Simon Peter. Peter was a passionate guy who was always ready to jump right into things, often speaking before thinking. He also betrayed Christ by denying three times that he even knew Jesus. He felt like a complete failure and was ready to go back to being just a fisherman.

Judas did one act. Peter did three. Judas killed himself. Peter was restored by Christ. What made the difference?

Judas became focused on himself and his own shortcomings. He was guilty, for sure. But he didn’t think beyond his own pain. He didn’t repent or ask for forgiveness or even credit God with having mercy to forgive. He hopelessly gave up and took his own life. Maybe he needed a friend who could have helped guide him.

Peter, on the other hand, was always searching and stayed focused on God. When Christ asked the disciples if they would leave as others had, Peter was the one who said there was nowhere better to go. He was the one who first confessed Jesus as being the Christ. And we see at the end of John’s Gospel that he still wanted to be close to Christ even after denying Him. He knew Jesus is always a friend ready to help.

Peter felt convicted of his sin. Judas just felt guilty. Conviction leads to repentance. Guilt leads to judgment and pain. God wants us to feel convicted of our sin and change for the better. Satan wants us to feel guilty and beaten down. Peter never lost hope because he put his trust in God, not in himself.

So, which one is more like you? Do we act more like Judas and give up, or more like Peter and hope for something better? I hope you choose to be more like Peter.

On a HAPPIER note, here’s a fun little quiz to see what other Bible characters you might be like. The first time I did it, I think I was like Moses. I say first time because I’m one of those people that will do it again just to see what all the different results are, lol.

Blessings to you!

Kevin (with Angelica) Obermeyer

P.S. Did you know that angels don’t actually sing? More about that tomorrow…