The most powerful antidepressant?!

How do you feel today? Are you filled with joy, or do sadness and depression seem to be your lot today?

If you’re doing well this morning, praise will increase your joy. If you’re feeling sad or depressed, praise is the most powerful of antidepressants! Begin to see that in the midst of everything that seems to be going badly, there are many reasons to rejoice, small and big!

My friend, Grégory Turpin, shares this interesting story in his book, “Petit guide pour une vie transformée” (“A Short Guide for a Transformed Life”). One day, very early in the morning, one of his friends was on the RER train in Paris. Each passenger, absorbed by his/her own worries, was avoiding contact with the other passengers. Suddenly, the driver made an announcement: “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to celebrate with you because we’re on time, and it isn’t even time we’ve had to make up! So you don’t have to hurry this morning, the sun is shining, it’s 73°F, and the birds are singing. I hope you have a wonderful day, whatever you’ll be doing.” All the passengers started smiling over their phones, took out their headphones, and even started conversations: “It’s true.. .we forget to be grateful for the little things,” “They should do that more often…”

If this driver is a Christian, he must have a gift for praise! Praise is at the heart of the Christian life because:

• It concretely expresses, with movement and with words, our amazement and joy as we stand in God’s glory;
• It’s not simple excitement or enthusiasm. This joy is the express manifestation of our love for God;
• It produces within us a grateful attitude concerning everything around us; our lives; and those surrounding us, near and far.

I encourage you… yes, you!, to praise God regularly. It fuels your joy and anchors it deeply within your heart.

Be blessed!