Bible Memory Helps Depression

In Loving God With All Your Mind, Elizabeth George shares several specific practices that God used to bring her out of severe depression.

“The first was memorizing Scripture. Having been told – like every Christian – that I should memorize Scripture and not knowing that I had an option, I had dutifully begun to memorize passages from God’s Word. I wrote Bible verses on index cards which I carried with me, taped on mirrors, laid on the breakfast table, and placed on the windowsill over my kitchen sink. I was doing what I knew was right, but I was quite unaware of the great benefits I would reap”.

Elizabeth goes on to share how she meditated upon these Scriptures, and began to obey them. Phillipians 4: 8 became especially life changing. It taught her to focus on God’s word and the truth rather than upon the depressing thoughts that filled her heart.

Elizabeth’s life is an example of how the Holy Spirit often brings alive practices done solely out of “duty” or obedience, turning them into actions that stem from love and joy. The first step to obeying God’s word is to know God’s word. The more it dwells deeply within us, the more the Holy Spirit will use it to change us.