Thursday, January 19, 2012

I've got my doubts

If you have yours, too please don't feel guilty or beat yourself up.
What can we do when we have questions running around in our minds which are worrying us?

Michael Patton has some helpful suggestions for what to do when someone is struggling with doubts. And he admits that he has been through this, too.
I've put some of what he has written into the first person, but his article is written from the point of view of helping someone else. I hope you'll read what Michael has to say, but here are a few gems:

Doubts are often the birth-pangs of deepened faith.

Embrace the central teachings of the Christian faith: don't get hung up on small, less important issues, which may be intriguing, but are not worth being overwhelmed by.

Doubt is not unbelief. When yo uare struggling with doubt, don't write yourself off, and start living as if you are no longer a Christian. Continue to live as a Christian, even if you don't feel like one anymore.

Sometimes people doubt because they want to sin, and are trying to justify this biblically. A man who has his eyes on someone else's wife, may be experiencing doubt, because he is dwelling on his lustful thoughts and attempting to somehow make it OK.
if there is something that we know we are supposed to be doing, and we are not doing it, doubt will soon spread, and the crisis of faith will be hard to overcome.

I am a perpetual doubter learning to live with it. I don't rejoice in my doubt and don't wish it upon anyone else. However, I have come to realize that it almost always makes my faith stronger in the end, so long as I am not apathetic. This perspective can help us deal with others in their doubts.

I hope these thoughts may be helpful to someone.

No comments:

Post a Comment