Basic HTML Version
D
epression, as one writer put it
in a recent
Plain Truth,
is a
"gray menace." Depression
and discouragement will gnaw at
you until they destroy you-if you
let them. And nothing is more de–
pressing than the idea that you, as
an individual, are worthless.
We a ll have low points. None of
us is immune from occasional des–
pondency. But no one has to live
with it on a chronic basis.
Sorne people are very consistent–
they are
always
discouraged. They
live in "the pits." They have
adopted a permanent posture of
personal worthlessness. They are
like the character Joe Bfsplk in the
now defunct
Lil' Abner
comic strip–
everywhere they go there is a dark
cloud over their head.
Such people have suffered a mas–
sive loss of self-esteem. T hey have
lost their zest for life and any sense
of personal worth. They feel neither
competen! to live nor worthy of life.
They are self-destructive.
As a result of this chronic depres–
sion such people are not even begin–
ning to live up to their own human
potential. They have not yet discov–
ered the talents, abilities and q uali–
ties that líe within themselves. Their
flag is flying at half-mast over the
death of the self, and they are un–
able to climb out of the crypt of
despair into which they have fallen .
For all intents and purposes such
people are through. They have lost
their reason to live. Worse, they
have lost their
wi!l
to live.
You may well be such a person.
If so, there is something you can
do about it. You can begin by
changing your view of man in gen–
eral. Then you can change your
view ofyourself.
The Biblical Perspective
It is believed, in sorne circles, that the
Bible's view of roan is essentially
negative. It is quite true that the Bible
pulls no punches in exposing the evil
aspects ofman's nature. The prophet
Jeremiah. for example, said: "The
heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately corrupt; who can under–
stand it?" (Jer. 17:9.) We have all
experienced the deceitfulness of our
own bearts. That is why we can say
The
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1978
AREYOU LIVING
UPTO
YOURPOTENTIAL?
by
Brian Knowles
Personal discouragement anda feeling of worthlessness are hall–
marks ofour troubled times. A reader ofThe Plain Truth wrote,
"!
have often looked longingly at the guns hanging on my wa/1, and
thought that maybe that would be the best way out." He wrote of
feelings of "inferiority, guilt, and
worthles~ness."
How unfortu–
nate! Yet many sufferfrom similarfeelings. Ifyou are one ofthese
unfortunate souls, it's high time you adopted a new view ofyourself
and the rest of humanity!
unanimously: "The road to hell is
paved with good intentions." How
often have we all betrayed our own
best intentions and done the very
thing we were trying to avoid!
This is undoubtedly what Paul
was talking about in Romans. He
wrote: "1 do not understand my own
actions. For
1
do not do what 1want,
but 1 do the very thing 1 hate"
27