I have suffered a lot emotionally for God. It may not sound like a big thing if you were to compare it to martyrdom but it's part of our calling.
John G. Stackhouse,
You are not content to give yourself the mere necessities of existence, surely, but instead you prefer to give yourself the very best life has to offer....And in the Christian religion, there is nothing wrong with this attitude. Jesus never suggested we not seek the best for ourselves. To be sure, sometimes what is truly best for us requires sacrifice: "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27). Yet Jesus himself "endured the cross" in order to secure "the joy that was set before him" (Hebrews 12:2). The key is to realize that securing what is best for oneself takes place within the overarching goal of pleasing God and serving God's world--especially in the form of our neighbour, the "near one."
People have said that God wants you to be happy. What I've done in my life for Christ hasn't always brought me happiness. I've had to turn down relationships and struggled against my own personal preferences for a "perfect" and serene life. But what endured me through all this and has pushed me to do what is right according to God is the Holy Spirit. I hadn't really understood what had really driven me to make such radical decisions in my life until I properly understood the identity of the Holy Spirit. Not knowing this has frustrated me.
If one suffers psychologically, then in the latter, the body will also suffer. Emotions turn to a loss of will to persevere, which then leads to loss of appetite for food. The willingness to live and the spirit of one's self begins to decrease. This is good for the soul because the only spirit that comes to God is a bankrupt one; one that is looking for forgiveness and answers for the grievance and guilt. And not only that but surrender from doing life one's own way and coming to one's knees entrusting that the Creator knows best.
When you trail off from God's holy word and the gathering of believers it is easy to fall into disregard for God's help.
I have to thank God even in the suffering.
My point here is not that we should walk in our lives wallowing around grieving about the things we've given up. No, God doesn't want us to miss those things we gave up nor to think about the past. The world would be a pretty ugly place if everyone did what made them happy (such as rape, affairs, divorce, etc., which lead to broken homes, broken relationships and disregard to the family unit). So how do we get our joy in the Lord? By thinking about His sacrifice? His everlasting love? Why would God want us to suffer for his glory? What is the big picture? Doesn't He want us to be truly happy? Yes, but we don't fill our selfish desires and lusts to make ourselves glorified and happy. Anyone can be happy without reverence to God. But for the future eternal happiness it is worth dying to self and suffering the emotional repercussions.
How do we balance the internal joy in the Lord and self-sacrifice?
This is not a step-by-step plan to find God's joy but a directing to God's command that you die to your self; which means stop focusing on you!
I continued and probably will continue to suffer decisions I make because there is a constant battle between my heart and my flesh. But this suffering may also come from Satan. This is a key point that I want to make here. Satan will try to use your past decisions for Christ and turn them into regrets by using your sinful pleasures.
How does this happen? You might ask; How can we safeguard ourselves against such a power?
First, stop letting your mind to be occupied by sinful thoughts. You can do that by refocusing your attention to praising God and thinking of good and honourable things that are pleasing to God.
Second stop filling your mind with filth. Like the saying goes, "garbage in, garbage out." Fill your mind with God's holy scripture daily and even fast at times when it's most difficult.
Third and last, confess and pray and don't cease to pray for God to help you. Also confess to a mature brother or sister in the faith who you can be accountable to and who can pray for you.
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