60 Biblical Affirmations for Depression: Crazy Grace Quick Tips for Christians, #2

By Christy Bower

What kinds of things do you say to yourself?

Do you say things like, "I'm so stupid" or "I'll never succeed"? These are negative affirmations. That's right! Affirmations can be negative or positive. The more we say things like this, the deeper they become entrenched in our thinking. They become our default thoughts.

I suffered for years with negative thought habits and it grew worse and worse because I didn't realize I could change my thoughts.

As I suffered with depression, mania, anxiety, and other mental health struggles, I felt helpless to change. I knew the Bible said to "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about thing that are excellent and worthy of praise" (Philippians 4:8). But I didn't know how to jump out of the deep thought ruts formed by years of negative thinking.

Change happens one thought at a time.

The Bible offers this explanation: "We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). We formed negative thought habits one thought at a time. Now those deep trenches in our brains have become strongholds—default thought patterns that are difficult (but not impossible!) to change.

Allow me to share 60 biblical affirmations to retrain our brains with the word of God. As I share a few thoughts on each one, I hope you'll be encouraged and find depression loses its grip on your life. There's no need to live in torment. You can envision a brighter tomorrow, starting today.

These 60 biblical affirmations will give you a start on changing the way you think. Each statement of faith rephrases a verse or two. Add these statements of faith to your arsenal of tools to combat the darkness of depression.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christy Bower
• Release date: Nov 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781540162335

Christy Bower

Greetings from Montana! I'm Christy Bower, author of more than fifty books, including two books by Our Daily Bread, which have gone into four or more printings. For those of you who like to know my qualifications, I have a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Multnomah Biblical Seminary. American Christian Writers has twice named me "Writer of the Year." And I'm a multi-time winner of NaNoWriMo, a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. Out of this challenge, I drafted The Legend of Dragon Hollow. I'm also the creator of Crossword Bible Studies, which provide a fun and easy way to spend a few minutes in the Bible. As for the rest of you who simply want to know what kind of person I am, Coca Cola is my lifeblood. I drive a hatchback car because I value economy and versatility. I never used a smart phone until March 2019. I spend an excessive amount of time on the Internet when I should be writing. And I've never owned a pet of any kind. I rely on God's provision through book sales to pay my bills. I would like to thank you for your purchase because you just put a meal on my table! Buy a couple more books and I could put some gas in my hatchback! If you enjoyed one of my books, please tell a friend or, better yet, leave a star rating on the site where you purchased it. This isn't to boost my ego, but to help other readers make their purchase decisions. Blessings to you! Christy

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60 Biblical Affirmations for Depression (Quick Tips for Christians Book 2)

©2018 Christy Bower

http://christybower.com/email

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Christy Bower used images from the public domain to create the cover and interior images.

Introduction: How to Use Biblical Affirmations to Overcome Depression

Do you or someone you know suffer from depression? I’m not talking about the way we misuse the word depression for feeling bummed that the concert tickets were sold out or feeling disappointed that we got a C on an exam. I’m so depressed is an expression we need to be careful about saying for trivial things like these.

Rather, I’m talking about debilitating depression that clouds, cripples, and suffocates your life. When everything seems hopeless or impossible, when you are alone and frustrated, help is available.

Biblical affirmations are one form of help among many. I believe mental health issues require a holistic approach, treating body, mind, and spirit. Medication alone isn’t going to heal a mental health condition, but medication does treat physical causes enough to give us the clarity of mind to deal with the mental and spiritual aspects. Biblical affirmations are tools to help with the mental and spiritual aspects of depression.

Depression is a complex condition that requires thinking about what we think.

I have decades of experience with depression so I know the debilitating darkness well. As the psalmist wrote, Darkness is my closest friend (Psalm 88:18). But if there’s one thing we can learn from the Psalms as a whole, it’s how to take our darkest thoughts and bring them to God. When we do, we always leave God’s presence feeling strengthened and encouraged.

Scripture also urges us to take every thought captive and bring it to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). This process forces us to identify our thoughts. When we identify a negative thought, we can replace it with a positive alternative. That’s why we have to think about what we think.

I learned I could choose which thoughts and images I entertain in my mind.

I can rehearse negative affirmations or I can rehearse positive affirmations. That’s right. Affirmations can be negative or positive. Anything we say to ourselves affirms something we believe. Instead of affirming things like I’m going to screw this up, we can affirm, "God is in control and he is with