Answers
By BGEA Admin • March 15, 2023 • Topics: Depression, Sin
Q:
We have more psychiatrists and behavioral specialists available to people than ever before in the history of the world. Yet the emotional roller coaster is out of control. Every friend I have is under the care of these doctors and taking medications they prescribe for depression. What is happening to society?
A:
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
A psychiatrist faces a dilemma today. In talking with thousands of confused people, a doctor can often diagnose their ailments; but as one psychiatrist admitted, “I have a difficult time offering a curative.” We behave improperly because of sin [that affects everyone]. The Bible says that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). While the Bible diagnoses sin, it also provides a cure. This is where the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes in.
Many object to the word sin. It is not a pleasant word, but neither are the words cancer or leukemia. They remind us of sickness and death. They rob us of hope.
But there is hope for those who are infected with the disease of sin. There is a remedy for sin. It is curable. Every trace of it can be removed, for God has provided something that can cleanse the vilest sinner and make him or her as pure as fresh-fallen snow.
The Bible tells us of a bridge of faith that reaches from the valley of despair to the high hills of glorious hope in Christ. It tells us where we are, but is also tells us where we can be in Christ Jesus. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace … and has broken down the middle wall of separation” (Ephesians 2:13–14).
Those who know Christ are called to be a light to those in darkness. “Anxiety in the heart … causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” (Proverbs 12:25).
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
