There Is Hope

Depression can bring on a feeling of condemnation. It can bring on a strong feeling of moral disapproval. People who don’t understand depression look at the depressed person as if there is something morally wrong with them. This attitude can add to our depressive state. We begin to feel as if we have failed others and that we will never be truly accepted as we are. But this is the way the world is. People want to condemn the things that are different than how they see things. We have a tendency to condemn what we don’t understand. Instead of seeking understanding, we turn to condemnation. After all, it’s easier to condemn than it is to seek understanding. We need to stop listening to the condemnation of others, and start listening to what God wants to say to us.

One of the best known verses in the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not parish, but have everlasting life.” Even though we could stop on this verse, we shouldn’t. As impactful as this verse is, the next one is equally impactful. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”. (John 3:17). In a world full of condemnation we find God who doesn’t want to condemn us. Why would God give His Son, Jesus to die a gruesome death on a cross if He planned on condemning us? The answer is; He wouldn’t. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us, but to save us from condemnation. So in our depression we can find hope in Jesus. The world may condemn us, but Jesus does not.

Jesus knows and understands us, better than we know and understand ourselves. We can close out the condemnation of the world and focus on the saving grace of God. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, believing He is the Son of God, that He died on a cross, and was resurrected after only three days in a borrowed tomb, we enter into the kingdom of God where there is no condemnation. Jesus doesn’t condemn us. Regardless of what other people think, say, and do, we can choose to focus on Jesus. Jesus didn’t come to condemn us, He came to save us. Even in our depression.