Scripture says that God is faithful to forgive, and that when you ask his forgiveness, he removes your sin as far as the east is from the west. This is a figure of speech, but basically he forgets about it. If you choose to be a Christian, this may be some comfort.

Personally, I prefer weed to see God though, but whatever floats your boat.

how awesome to see a *Christian* thread.. On the depression board, they bite your head off.. glad I came here and saw this.. thank you..

Thanks for the thread - I really appreciate the input I have seen from others.

When I first came on DS, I could not understand why I could feel so close to God at some times but not at others.

I have come to understand that, from a bipolar perspective, those things I Believe and am Sure Of whether I am manic OR depressed are the real feelings I have and the Real things I know.

Sometimes I feel more strongly committed during mania, and less close during depression.

But God Himself remains constant, unchanging - that is a comforting thought.

:)

I first must admit that I am not bipolar. I experience it through my bipolar husband.
I think it certainly more differcult for you. I think there is a reason why Jesus says to love your neighbour as yourself - if you can't love yourself the whole perspective changes.
However I have found that our faith has helped both my husband and me to cope through the hard times. But that sentence is not very practical is it!
Specifically, by remembering that the devil tempts all people by feeding us thoughts about ourselves - eg.we are unforgivable/useless/failures/doomed to endless misery and endless other examples. In this way we can remind ourselves that these thoughts do not reflect reality but instead reflect Satan's aims of making us despair. Thus we can undermine the negative thoughts.
Also, remembering that (as a previous member mentioned) the trials we go through reflect God's confidence in our abilty to overcome them, and that by overcoming them we become bit by bit more like Jesus.
By knowing that we are forgiven for the times we have given up and really screwed things up because Jesus paid for eveything with his pain, humiliation and death already knowing what we would do.
On a practical level - Christian friends have been there for us when others have just found the situation too inconvenient/upsetting/embarrassing. The love available in a healthy Christian community is something we only fully discover when everything falls apart! God cares for us through the people he puts around us.
Finally, and I don't know the reason for this - my husband has problems expressing things emotional and personal so mostly I rely on wifely ESP =D - but going to church nearly infallibly (there have been 2 exceptions) alleviates my husbands symptoms, at least for a while.
BTW we were both adult converts so this is nothing to do with returning to the comforts of our youth. Both our families are strongly atheist. My husbands faith is an inspiration to me.

Remember that following Christ is incredibly differcult for ALL Christians. Of anyone says otherwise, they probably aren't really trying. Definitely be real. Aim for perfection yes but don't fake it, we help others through admitting our own difficulties.
Persevere and your reward will be great beyond any measure you can imagine!
Love and prayers to you and thanks for this questions. Hope i have been in some way useful.
To everyone else - sorry for taking up soooo much space!