An open letter to those dear to me who are suffering with depression

by Hannah Carter

First of all, I just want to say that I love you immensely. As do all of us—your family, your best friends, and most importantly, God loves you more than anything.

I know how hard it is to describe how you’re feeling.  I know it makes it even harder that very few people seem to actually understand you. I, too, don’t understand why your emotions are the way they are. I know you often times don’t understand why either. Why God chose this to be your cross to bear. I know you feel weak, but I’m here to tell you how strong you are – rather, how strong God has made you.

You are strong, so unbelievably strong. You feel so many things that you can’t describe, and yet you still live each day, day-to-day, like anyone else. Not many people can even tell what you go through. You put on a brave face and a wonderful contagious smile. When you tell people about your depression, they are shocked. They would never have guessed.

I know you feel like you have to hold things in. You don’t want to burden others with your problems—which you feel are insignificant, but they aren’t. They are significant to me and, more importantly, they are significant to God. I am here for you as much as humanly possible, but God is there for you always. Every single second, you can always go to him in prayer and he hears you. You can trust him no matter what, and he promises to sustain you. He will never leave you.

I know you don’t feel like you are worthy of anything – unworthy of love, unworthy of happiness, and many other things – but you are! You are worthy. Through Jesus’ death on the cross for you, you are worthy of God’s love. And does he ever love you! He loves you more than I do and that’s saying a lot.

Please never think that you shouldn’t belong here. God placed you on this earth for a reason. He knew you at the creation of the world and he created you with a purpose in mind. You are such a blessing in my life and lives of all of those you touch. Never let depression be the only thing by which you define yourself. You are so much more than that. You are funny, caring, and kind. You are smart. Your soul is beautiful.  You are a child of God.

My prayer for you is that God continues to grant you the strength to carry on. That he continually shows his love to you and gives you many wonderful gospel lights in your life to motivate and remind you of his love and faithfulness.

Remember that I am always here for you, always praying for you, and sending love to you always.  

Loving like Christ

by Alissa Ambroso

Alissa wrote this devotion for use with the high school students she teaches at Divine Savior Academy.

            Whether we want to admit it or not, dating has a major impact on the high school experience. It’s considered to be embarrassing if you don’t get asked to prom, it becomes a devastation if you break up with your beau, and some high schoolers may date multiple people throughout their high school careers. It becomes essential to have an Instagram relationship, a publicly intimate profile with intentional, filtered, and perfected photographs of holding hands and beach kisses. There are so many high schoolers today that feel they are “in love” with their boyfriend or girlfriend. We need to examine these relationships because many of you will face the same thing. While facing enormous pressures in the world of high school dating, I want you to remember to chase only one thing: Jesus. When you seek God’s approval rather than your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s approval, you are trusting God with your heart. You want to make sure that you do not just fall in love with being in love.

What does it mean to seek God’s approval rather than a boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s approval? We look to the Bible for that answer. The Bible describes an unconditional, unequaled love that no one else can possibly match. If you’ve ever felt like you cannot possibly go on without your boyfriend or girlfriend, I am here to tell you that God loves you more than you could possibly imagine. Because he loves you that much, he wants your whole heart, not just when it is convenient. Trusting God with your heart means that if you find yourself the only person without a date, or look at your news feed and see that everyone else is getting engaged, or you have never been in love, but have chased God as your priority in life, you will know the closest thing to a Christ-like love in this world.

The problem is that there is no absence of “love” in society. People describe everything from enjoying a certain type of food to deep affection for another human being with the word “love.” There is such a wide variety of definitions it’s no wonder we get confused about the true meaning! Do we feel love or do we do things in love? Well, we do both.  When we decide to honor another person, love is the action we take no matter how we feel.  The apostle John described love with the word “agape” in Greek language.  It is not merely a feeling based on emotion or affection, although emotion can and will be present.  Deep love is something we choose to do and put our minds to doing. Agape love is grace; it is undeserved love. There is a major difference between shallow love and Christian love. Truth and love go hand-in-hand, so that where Christ’s truth is, there true love will be, and where true love is there the Truth will be. Agape love is more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling inside of us. Christian love is completely selfless, never looking for a personal benefit. Does this mean we can never be angry with our significant other? Absolutely not! It means we look to build them up, rather than strike them down. It means that we strive to show Christ’s love to help the other person feel loved by him. It may mean we don’t want to go to their basketball game, but we do so to support them. It means we may not want to wake up early to make breakfast for our whining kids, but we do so because we love them. Christ’s love has zero hint of selfishness. It is sacrificing, everlasting. It is not rude, does not boast, is not self-seeking, and keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8). There’s no harm in keeping a list of things you want in your future spouse and, if you’re like me, you already may have made a list of characteristics. But I want you to use Scripture to make that list.  If you’re able to keep chasing God and allow the godly man to chase you, you’ll find that all of those characteristics get checked in time. Now, this isn’t a quick fix to the so called “problem” of singleness. Yes, it may be lonely during the homecoming dance, it may be difficult seeing everyone around you in seemingly happy relationships, but there is no greater love than the love your Father in heaven has for you. Trust him with your whole heart.

So how will you know if the person that comes into your life is someone you should be with? Remember that true love seeks the truth, is always healing, never harming. If your relationship emphasizes Christ’s truth together and looks to build each other up rather than cutting down, pray. That well may be the right relationship for your future. Notice I didn’t say that it was the right relationship without a doubt. God may bring many Christian men or women into your life, but relying on the principles you learn in his Word, his truth will guide you toward godly decisions.  Date intentionally. A boyfriend or girlfriend who does not love what you love cannot help you grow closer to that love. If the person you have interest in is not following Christ, then you need to reevaluate those feelings and think about who you’re chasing. Agape love isn’t just expressing your feelings; it’s also about listening to their feelings. Again, it is selfless. When your significant other asks you about your day, without hopes of more time to talk about theirs, it is an attempt to show love. A pastor wisely said, “Listening in love means we seek to understand others on their own terms, as they themselves want to be understood.” It goes beyond being physically supportive. Listening to one another is possible because first we listen to the Lord.

While an unconditional love in this world can’t compare to the truly unconditional love of Christ for his people, we can strive for such a love. Focus on Christ until the person you will love always in Christ comes into your life. Whoever may come down your road, always ask yourself, “Who am I pursuing?”

Church is about what's inside

Article and illustration by Cortney Manning

The church is the entire family of believers in Christ.  But we may also use the word “church” in other ways, like describing the places or buildings in which believers gather around the Word.  Church buildings  may look different or be different sizes -- like early churches in people’s homes, medieval cathedrals, small one-room buildings, or a campus chapel.  What is most important, though, is that the Word of God is proclaimed and the sacraments are celebrated.

I really enjoy seeing different church buildings, but the appearance of the building is not what guarantees that members of Christ's church are inside.  The loveliest, most ornate church could lack God’s Word in its truth and purity while a tiny, unimpressive building could contain solid teaching of the Word and faithful use of the sacraments. There the Holy Spirit is  at work in people's hearts with the means of grace.

It is important that we not be too focused on the visible church building.  No matter how beautiful it is, it will not last.  While it is great for believers to use their talents, gifts, and abilities to create a beautiful building and maintain and clean it, we also need to remember that this is not what is most important.  Like Martha, who focused on cleaning and preparing a meal for Jesus, I know that I sometimes get too focused on earthly things and appearances.  But I can remember also how Martha's her sister Mary focused instead on Jesus and his Word.  Jesus said, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42).  I want to do the same.