I am trying to change my ways and live a better Christian lifestyle (a life more pleasing to the Lord). I know temptation will always be hounding me, but I know the Lord will provide me a way out. However, I want to know if fear can be considered a temptation? Like the fear of never being forgiven even after you’ve confessed?<\/p>\n\t
A better word for what you are describing is “doubt.” It is a lack of trust, either in God, the Bible, or your ability to carry out what God said. Doubt is the opposite of faith.<\/p>\n
When we pray to God, James tells us that it must be without doubt. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways<\/em>” (James 1:6-8). If you aren’t confident that God will answer your prayer, then why bother. It reminds me of the boy who knocked on my door and said, “You don’t want to buy a magazine do you?” He defeated himself with his opening line. “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting<\/em>” (I Timothy 2:8).<\/p>\n Doubt is one of Satan’s great tools. It was through doubt that Satan convinced Eve to sin (Genesis 3:1-6). Eve was confident in what she knew until Satan introduced the idea that things might not be exactly as she thought them to be. In the same way, if Satan convinces a person that God won’t really forgive him, despite what God said, then that person will eventually become overwhelmed with guilt and will give up.<\/p>\n As we grow in our love for God, that love pushes aside our fears. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love<\/em>” (I John 4:18). Not “perfect” in the sense of without flaw, but perfect in the sense of maturity and completeness. The losing of doubts is a process of growing in love. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind<\/em>” (II Timothy 1:7).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I am trying to change my ways and live a better Christian lifestyle (a life more pleasing to the Lord). I know temptation will always be hounding me, but I know the Lord will provide me a way out. However, I want to know if fear can be considered a temptation? Like the fear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1569,352],"class_list":["post-28215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-doubts","tag-fear"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17425,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-beginning-to-doubt-my-baptism-whether-i-really-understood-that-i-was-to-die-to-sin-should-i-be-rebaptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":28215,"position":0},"title":"I’m beginning to doubt my baptism, whether I really understood that I was to die to sin. Should I be rebaptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have heard of many people who have questioned their salvation because they didn't know a particular scripture at the time. I have learned through the years that there will always be something you don't know at the time of your baptism. A person does not need to know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29264,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-having-doubts-about-my-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":28215,"position":1},"title":"I’m having doubts about my baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I hope you are well. I have a question about baptism. When I was 13, I was baptized into Christ. However, I later realized I had only done it out of pressure. I was baptized into Christ when I was 19. Not long after, I began to have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14711,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-certain-if-we-are-ready-to-raise-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":28215,"position":2},"title":"I’m not certain if we are ready to raise children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have just spent some time reviewing your site and it is incredible. I am having some issues right now and was hoping you could help me, not sure where to turn because I don't want anyone in my church to think horribly of me. Anyway, here goes. My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50225,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-had-a-relapse-of-my-schizoaffective-disorder-and-i-fear-i-did-something-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":28215,"position":3},"title":"I had a relapse of my schizoaffective disorder and I fear I did something wrong","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have schizoaffective disorder. I have had a recent relapse. I encountered many disturbing occurrences of racing thoughts and hallucinations from the enemy, and I did not do well. I rebuked and prayed, but I feel broken and lost like I did something wrong. I have been a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36977,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-am-no-longer-committing-sexual-sins-but-should-i-get-myself-checked-or-just-trust-god-to-answer-my-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":28215,"position":4},"title":"I am no longer committing sexual sins, but should I get myself checked or just trust God to answer my prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was one of those Christians that if you were to ask me if I died today would I go to heaven, I would say yes. But I was still in fornication, drinking, etc. And I would of went to hell thinking I was living right. I've let go\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48884,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dealing-with-doubt\/","url_meta":{"origin":28215,"position":5},"title":"Dealing with Doubt","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: John 20:19-31 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is it wrong to have doubts? When those moments come when you wonder if God really exists or you run across an idea that makes you wonder if you really understood the Bible correctly, have you sinned? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Look at characters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}