As I begin my spiritual message this morning concerning depression, the first thought I want to lift up is, sadness is not a sin. The truth of your emotions and why you are feeling them matters. We all deserve to experience one of my favorite spiritual and psychological truths given by the Lord, which we find in John 8:32, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

When was the last time that you felt really blue or “down in the dumps”? When was the last time you felt truly depressed or hopeless? And now a third question for you this morning, have you ever been through a psychological depression that lasted more than three weeks, and which perhaps became debilitating in some way—you know, like when you found it immensely burdensome to even want to get out of bed?