Prescription to Battle Depression

Jacob 3

Rx for Depression

Jacob is speaking to the supposedly “good guys” in a gathering and chastising them for poor examples to their wives and children.  That would have been a difficult meeting to attend.  Can you imagine the poor wives and children who were listening to the prophet call out their husbands’/fathers’ sins?  Ouch! 

Then Jacob goes on and tells the “pure in heart” [v1] how to overcome their afflictions.  Since applying the scriptures to our own lives has been the commandment from our latter-day prophets, we can apply this formula to ourselves.  I’ve written in my margin: Prescription for depression.  Well, wouldn’t it be depressing to know your husband/father was in a bad place?  It would be to me.  Anyway, the prescription is rather simple:

• Look unto God (look up)
• Pray
• Have faith
• Receive the pleasing word of God
• Feast upon his love

If we do these things, verse 1 says “. . .he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.”  The key word is “pure in heart”.  He is speaking to the pure in heart.  Is my heart pure?

What is the definition of a pure heart?  Psalm 24:4 says “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully,. ..”

• Not prone to vain things
• Is truthful
• Trust the Lord
• Does not lust
• Merry heart
• Meek and lowly
• Love God
• Singleness of heart
• Obey truth
• Love one another
• Stripped of pride
• Understanding
• Drawn out in prayer
• Ponder the words of Christ
• Believe
• Softened
• United with the brethren

 These are just a few words I gathered as I skimmed the Topical Guide under heart.  As I answer the question today, I need to ponder these thoughts to know if my own heart is really pure.  In so doing, I qualify to partake of the prescription for depression.  However, as I ponder this string of thoughts, I can’t help but wonder if there is a connection between having a pure heart and not knowing depression.  There’s the real question to ponder.

Love is the answer

Alma 43

The beginning of the war chapters.  These chapters took on an entirely new meaning when I attended a class that suggested it is not talking war as much as it is talking about protecting our homes and families from the evil war that is being waged against us by Satan. 

There are key players in this particular war.  We have the Nephites who are followers of God (The Lord’s people) and then we have the Lamanites who were raised on the lies of their fathers.  They were raised to hate the Nephites.  The other groups of people are the Almalakites and the Zoramites.  These were apostates – people who at one time believed in God.  (These three groups are Satan’s warriors.)  It is made clear in v7 that the apostates’ hatred toward the Nephites was even worse than that of the Lamanites.  This is something to be reckoned with in our day.  We have good people who fall away from the church for whatever reason.  Some of them are angry for perceived injustices or blessings they feel they have been denied.  They will do anything to make the church look bad in the eyes of the rest of the world.  They will go to extreme lengths to fight Satan’s war against the powers of heaven.  This is why we need to guard carefully the membership of our people – especially our own homes. 

One thing that stands out to me and is almost humorous is the stupidity of those who fight against the Lord.  They don’t use common sense. The Nephites used strategy and counseled with a prophet for guidance on how to fight this war that was being waged against them.  Alma, a prophet of the Lord, knew their plan through revelation and gave sound advice.  There were fearful moments and some were lost, but they stayed true to their cause and cornered their enemy.  They could have obliterated the entire group of dissenters; but instead, they tried to talk sense.  You really can’t talk sense to a dissenter.  They have their ideas, and in their distorted minds, they are truth.

What does this tell me about my life today?  Well, certainly the only way to deal with anyone is through the power of love.  Love is a language that we all understand though it is unfamiliar to some.  Acceptance is another key.  We all need to feel accepted for who we are.  Find common ground and work from that common ground.  It’s easier said than done, but if it wasn’t doable, I don’t believe the Lord would have commanded us to love one another. 

Being United is Being Protected

3 Nephi 4 - I'm having no trouble finding correlation to this chapter in my personal life at all today. The Nephite armies defeat their enemies. It gives several things that allowed this to happen:

• They were in one body, aka united (v3 & v4)
• They were prayerful (v8)
• They did not fear, but prayed to God for protection (v10)
• They were prepared (v10)

My personal life was screaming at me this morning as I read. We've had an issue that has challenged us greatly the past month. I believe in a product that Clyde says is bogus, a lie, a scam – an MLM scam which is taking big money from many families. As we visited with two who were selling this product last night, it was quite confrontational, but we maintained civility for the most part. After a time, I realized that the conversation had turned contentious. It was not worth it to me to continue. I felt at peace – total peace in ending our discussion. I'm disappointed; but I'm at peace.

It is quite clear from reading 3 Nephi 4 that being in “one body” is critical to protecting us from the adversary. If you are divided amongst yourselves, you become enemies to each other and vulnerable to the attacks of the real enemy – Satan. We must remember this as we go through our personal lives. There are many things in the world today to take issue with. How many of them are really important? Actually, only those as they pertain to eternity. Clyde and I have maintained from the beginning of our marriage that if it is not of eternal consequence, it is of no consequence.

Sometimes this is not the easiest to do, but I was told by the spirit through temple attendance nearly 17 years ago that I would be better served by honoring my husband's wishes than I would be to strike out on my own, even on things that I believe to be true. The Lord has blessed me abundantly these last 17 years and I have no doubt he will continue to do so. Products comes and go. Marriage is for eternity.