DAY 41
罪與憂鬱
雷克-喬納 Rick Joyner
翻譯：Kate
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處：國度禱告網

耶和華對該隱說：你為什麼發怒呢？你為什麼變了臉色呢？
你若行得好，豈不蒙悅納？你若行得不好，罪就伏在門前。他必戀慕你，你卻要制伏他。（創世記4:6-7）

對於一個人的 "變了臉色"，聖經上是用來描述憂鬱症的。憂鬱是指從黑暗或陰鬱的角度看問題的傾向。這個問題在我們的時代正急劇增長。它一直被認為是那些犯下嚴重暴力犯罪和大規模謀殺的人的根本問題。正如我們在本章中所看到的，它也導致了該隱殺死他的兄弟亞伯。

患有憂鬱症的人並不都是潛在的殺人犯。大多數人以非攻擊性的內部方式處理這個問題。然而，對於那些向內轉的人來說，它導致了對自己人格的破壞，在更極端的情況下，還會導致自殺。

上帝在上述經文中給出了治療憂鬱症的方法。它是如此簡單，以至於大多數人都不能接受它。有些人，包括許多心理學流派，甚至會說是主對該隱的拒絕導致了他的憂鬱症，但這是對問題的膚淺理解。如果主接受了該隱的祭品，就會使他在自以為是中變得剛硬。主不得不拒絕他的祭品，以糾正該隱的觀點，從而導致他得到救贖。

拒絕總是讓人難以接受，但如果我們做錯了事情，拒絕對我們是有好處的，是需要的。拒絕是一個可以導致我們生活中最大突破的因素。在歷史上很難找到一個取得重大成就的人，在他們的生活中沒有遭受過重大的拒絕或失敗。拒絕要麼讓我們變得痛苦，要麼讓我們變得更好，這基本上就是主對該隱所說的。

正如主對該隱解釋的，將我們從憂鬱症中解救出來的方法不是讓別人接受我們現在的樣子，而是讓別人愛我們，足以糾正我們，使我們能夠做正確的事情。除了化學引起的憂鬱症外，它幾乎總是我們做錯事的結果，或者沒有做我們知道是正確的事。擺脫憂鬱症的方法就是主告訴該隱的方法--開始做正確的事。

現代心理學和精神分析學試圖通過攻擊道德標準來緩解人們的憂鬱症，他們認為人們試圖按照這些標準生活是不現實的。這是一個基本的嘗試，試圖改變我們認為是正確和錯誤的東西。在某些方面，這是可以理解的，因為宗教人士經常補充上帝的話語，並強加一種對人類人格具有破壞性的律法主義。然而，罪就是罪，我們可以說它不是罪，但主在我們裡面放置了一個良心，憑直覺就知道它是罪。我們越是想把它合理化，憂鬱症就會在我們的生活中紮根，就像該隱被警告的那樣。擺脫這種壓抑的唯一途徑是悔改罪，開始做正確的事。

值得注意的是，主並沒有告訴該隱停止做錯的事，而只是讓他 "做正確的事"(行得好)。律法師會專注於讓人停止做錯的事，但主強調的是積極的，做正確的事。正如耶穌教導我們的那樣，愛上帝和我們的鄰居是律法的實現。這樣一來，我們通過愛所做的積極行為會自動使我們不做錯事。例如，如果我們愛上帝，我們就不會崇拜偶像。如果我們愛鄰居，我們就不會偷竊他們的東西，羡慕他們的東西，或者謀殺他們。擺脫憂鬱症的簡單方法是開始做正確的事情，在愛中。

憂鬱症以及由此產生的自殺和謀殺正在今日的年輕人中成為流行病。有趣的是，在制定童工法之前，這些問題似乎根本不存在。當然，有必要保護兒童免受那些時代的虐待。然而，這些法律走向極端，實際上給年輕人帶來了更嚴重的問題。他們破壞了重要的學徒制度，這些制度使兒童能夠在他們最需要關注、目標和責任的年代學習責任和從事有意義的工作。正如諺語所說，"懶惰是魔鬼的工廠"，他肯定利用了這些法律強加給他們的青年懶惰。因此，作為父母，我們必須加倍努力，給我們的孩子有意義的義務和責任，特別是在青春期。如果他們學會 "做正確的事"，現在是他們最糟糕的時期，也可能是他們最好的時期。如果他們積極就業，憂鬱症就很少能找到進入他們生活的大門。


DAY 41
Sin and Depression
Rick Joyner

Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
"If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:6-7).

For one's "countenance to fall" is used biblically to describe depression. Depression is the tendency to see things from a dark or gloomy perspective. This problem is growing dramatically in our times. It is consistently found as a root problem of those who commit serious violent crimes and mass murders. As we will see in this chapter, it also led to Cain killing his brother Abel.

Those who suffer from depression are not all potential murderers. Most people deal with this problem in a non-aggressive, internal way. However, for those who turn inward, it leads to the destruction of their own personality, and in the more extreme cases, suicide.

God gives the remedy to depression in the above verses. It is so simple that most cannot accept it. Some, including many schools of psychology, would even say that it was the Lord's rejection of Cain that led to his depression, but that is a superficial understanding of the problem. If the Lord had accepted Cain's offering, it would have hardened him in his self-righteousness. The Lord had to reject his sacrifice to correct Cain's perspective in a way that could lead to his salvation.

Rejection is always hard to take, but it is good for us and needful if we are doing something wrong. Rejection is a factor that can lead to the greatest breakthroughs in our lives. It is hard to find a single person in history who accomplished anything of significance who did not suffer a major rejection or failure in their lives. Rejection will either make us bitter or better, which is basically what the Lord said to Cain.

As the Lord explained to Cain, the way to be delivered from our depression is not by having someone accept us the way we are, but by someone loving us enough to correct us so that we can do what is right. With the exception of chemically induced depression, it will almost always be the result of us doing something wrong, or by failing to do what we know is right. The way out of the depression is what the Lord told Cain—start doing what is right.

Modern psychology and psychoanalysis have tried to relieve people from depression by attacking moral standards which they believe are unrealistic for people to try to live by. This is a basic attempt to change what we believe to be right and wrong. In some ways, this is understandable because religious men and women have often added to God's Word, and imposed a legalism that is destructive to the human personality. However, sin is sin and we can say that it is not sin, but the Lord placed a conscience in us that knows intuitively that it is. The more we try to rationalize it, the more depression will take root in our lives, just as Cain was warned. The only way out of this depression is to repent of the sin and start doing what is right.

It is noteworthy that the Lord did not tell Cain to stop doing what is wrong, but to simply "do right." Legalists will focus on getting people to stop doing what is wrong, but the Lord emphasized the positive, doing what is right. As Jesus taught us, loving God and our neighbors is the fulfillment of the Law. In this way, the positives that we do through love will automatically keep us from doing what is wrong. For example, if we love God, we will not worship idols. If we love our neighbors, we will not steal from them, envy what is theirs, or murder them. The simple way out of depression is to start doing what is right, in love.

Depression and the resulting suicide and murder is becoming epidemic among today's youth. It is interesting that these problems seem to have not even existed before the child labor laws were instituted. Certainly there was a need to protect children from the abuses some suffered during those times. However, these laws went to an extreme that actually released even more serious problems upon the youth. They destroyed the important institutions of apprenticeship that enabled children to learn responsibility and engage in meaningful employment during the years when they most need focus, purpose, and responsibility. As the proverb states, "Idleness is the devil's workshop," and he has certainly used the idleness of youth that was forced upon them with these laws. Therefore, we must redouble our efforts as parents to give our children meaningful duties and responsibilities, especially during puberty. What are now their worst years can be their best years if they learn to "do right." If they are positively employed, depression will seldom find a door into their lives.