Depression’s Cure

There is no shortage of idioms for depression, which is a state of depression, being depressed, sadness or low in spirit. Some idioms for depression are:
Weariness
Doldrums
Wallow in Misery
Rainy-day Feeling
Down/Broken Hearted
Rock Bottom
Low Spirits
In a Funk,
Heavy Heart
Down in the Dumps

And there are many, many more. Of course, there are endless books on the cure for depression. Self-help, rise-from-the-funk books that claim to cure all depression. The simplest method can be very, very easy to understand. The best example comes from Scripture, God’s Word, and is one single word, serve.

To serve others takes who we falsely believe we are, where we are, how, and when we are, away while simultaneously takes all our self-attention and places it onto whomever we are serving. Our situation, and whatever it is and however bad it seems, is transformed to the other persons situation whatever it is and however bad it is. We transform from a soul needing to a soul providing.

Many years ago, when active members of the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association), my family was tasked with providing a Thanksgiving meal for families in need. A reluctant soul barely scratches the surface of my lacking willingness to help. Well, we obtained all the items and went to the home we were assigned. The family was large with several children. Their mother especially, was overcome with gratitude and refused to let us leave without her preparing the meal and sharing it with our family. The parents chatted, the kids played, and it was an amazing celebration of thanks. God transformed me in that
moment and I didn’t even know Him yet.

I’ve heard it said the best cure for depression is a 10-step process. Step number 1, do something for someone else less off than you. Step number 2, do step number one 8 more times. This is a cure because in that first step, we step aside our woes, our doldrums, our weariness, whatever’s bothering us as we bother about serving others.

Here are just a few quotes on serving others:
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” Booker T. Washington

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
Winston Churchill

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ” Martin Luther King, Jr.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.” Charles Dickens

“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.” Maya Angelou

“Serve” and “service” appear in God’s almost 400 times, therefore, we should pay attention to that one act. The lowest of the low act of service during the time Christ Jesus walked the earth was the washing of feet. Every soul had to do this before walking into a home for their feet were the dirtiest part of the body. Folks walked everywhere.

In John 13:5, Christ Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.
What an astonishing sight and experience! This was the God serving in the lowest. This single act changed lives in an instant.

We, too, must do this to be free of our depression, for Christ Jesus said,
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35. So, what are you waiting for? What is your delay? Serve another today and watch a transformation take place that you can’t take credit for because the transformation will be within you!
��
“Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble.”
George Washington
1st US President

For questions, details or to schedule a complimentary discussion on how you can start to serve others to reduce the negative impact of your depression, please email coach@maximizeu.life or visit www.MaximizeU.life

Thanks