Dear brother,<\/p>\n
I write this to you ashamed, but I have to admit how I feel. I have been a Christian for many years now; however, I have struggled with sin in my life constantly. I feel as though it all stems from a rebellious attitude inside of me. It seems like the only reason I am a Christian is that I don’t want to go to hell. I do not seem to find enjoyment in pursuing righteousness and am always desiring a life where I can do what I want to do rather than obey God. I see people of the world who are living in sin, and they seem as happy as can be apart from God, and it makes us wonder where is the happiness in being a Christian. I feel like I am in chains constantly trying to obey God and can’t seem to find happiness in doing His will.<\/p>\n
What am I doing wrong? I need help.<\/p>\n\t
“Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the LORD always<\/em>” (Proverbs 23:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Far too often Christians are convinced that having a fear of God and a fear of Hell is somehow a bad thing. Yet, fear is an essential part of forming our moral character. “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell<\/em>” (Matthew 10:28).<\/p>\n
It appears to me that the problem is not the fear of God, but that the fear is not strong enough to stop you from sinning. It is the knowledge that you know you are doing wrong repeatedly that is wearing you down.<\/p>\n
On top of this, you see happiness as something that is imposed on you, when in reality happiness is how you choose to look at life, regardless of what life throws at you. The roots of happiness is in contentment and that is what you are currently lacking. You are not content with who you are because of the unresolved sin in your life and that eats away at your ability to be happy.<\/p>\n
Yes, worldly people are content to be in sin. Thus, they are happy with themselves and their lives. The problem is that in the long run their lives are not stable and their happiness is fragile. “Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb<\/em>” (Psalms 37:1-2). Moments of pleasure accompanied by sin are not worth eternity in hell.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Dear brother, I write this to you ashamed, but I have to admit how I feel. I have been a Christian for many years now; however, I have struggled with sin in my life constantly. I feel as though it all stems from a rebellious attitude inside of me. It seems like the only…<\/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,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[642,374,179],"class_list":["post-53799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-christianity","tag-happiness","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20643,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-reach-heaven-with-all-this-negativity-in-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":53799,"position":0},"title":"Can I reach heaven with all this negativity in my life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian and have been for some time now. My problem is I have trouble letting go of my guilt because of past sins. I feel extremely depressed and in deep remorse for past sins. I know that God forgives me if I repent, confess, and ask\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":44484,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-just-want-a-happier-environment-for-my-child-and-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":53799,"position":1},"title":"I just want a happier environment for my child and me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am currently unemployed and have been for 6 months. Four years ago I fell in love with someone else. My goal is to find another job, then my child and I will move, or whatever we as the parents decide. We had a huge argument a few\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":50451,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-know-i-wont-fall-into-fornication-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":53799,"position":2},"title":"How do I know I won’t fall into fornication again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I seem to be struggling with my Christian life. I keep dabbling in fornication, which is always painful for me, so I don't even know why I do it. I also noticed I don't have a lot of Christian friends around. I can't seem to actually find any friends,\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":38164,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-teach-my-worldly-family-when-i-visit-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":53799,"position":3},"title":"How do I teach my worldly family when I visit them?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am visiting my worldly family right now and plan to be here for the next few days. I would like to at least spread some seed while I am here. I feel as though I could explain the basics of Christianity well enough if someone were already\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":5203,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-seem-to-be-improving-what-can-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":53799,"position":4},"title":"I don’t seem to be improving. What can I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I\u2019ve been a Christian for about twenty years now and am a member of the church of Christ. I would appreciate if you could answer some questions and help me with some issues I am having. I\u2019ve been examining myself lately, and I realize that I am 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":80946,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-want-me-to-be-unhappy\/","url_meta":{"origin":53799,"position":5},"title":"Does God Want Me to Be Unhappy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It is quite natural to want to be happy, and often, people think that is the whole reason God put us here. They have imagined that God just wants us to be happy no matter what. Is that true? Let's consider this for a moment. 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