Narcissistic personality disorder<\/a>“, Mayo Clinic].<\/p>\nThus, the next question is whether narcissism is a genetic disorder or a learned trait. It has been noted that narcissists tend to have other family members who are also narcissists, but this doesn’t separate learned behaviors from instinctive ones. It is also noted that narcissists tend to have parents who are either overprotective or neglectful. Both bad parenting styles raise children who have no self-discipline. They are never told “no” and always do as they please. They rarely face consequences for their actions.<\/p>\n
The psychological literature does not say that narcissism is untreatable, only that it is very difficult to treat with current practices. The primary reason given for failure is that the narcissist is unwilling to change.<\/p>\n
Unlike psychology, biblical teachings approach problems from a moral aspect. For some people, these teachings may be more difficult to implement than for other people but they are never impossible. The root teaching is that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Romans 13:9-10). A narcissist was never trained to love other people, but it doesn’t mean he can’t learn. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it<\/em>” (I Corinthians 10:13).<\/p>\nOf course, learning requires that a person wants to change and this can be difficult for a person who never stops to consider that he is likely to be wrong. “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter<\/em>” (II Corinthians 7:10-11).\u00a0 Repentance is critical for salvation. “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish<\/em>” (Luke 13:3,5).<\/p>\nThus, like every other sin, it comes down to a person deciding how much they regret being wrong and how badly they want to do what is right. God hasn’t asked the impossible. It might be difficult, and it might not feel natural at first, but it is always doable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Can a narcissist make it to heaven after they die? I read that they lack the empathy and love that God expects from us. It’s also proven to be a mental illness for which there is no cure, therefore no true repentance can take place. But God says all sins are forgiven except for…<\/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":[508,47],"class_list":["post-60068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-mental-illness","tag-salvation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":84918,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-those-with-mental-illness-be-treated-as-shut-ins\/","url_meta":{"origin":60068,"position":0},"title":"Should those with mental illness be treated as shut-ins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Sir, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! Sometimes, people with clinically diagnosed mental illnesses, like MDD, anxiety disorders, bipolar, etc., have episodes. They don't want to go to church because they feel judged and misunderstood. Sadly, some of them don't feel safe while in the church because\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":81895,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-mental-illness-a-spiritual-or-physical-condition\/","url_meta":{"origin":60068,"position":1},"title":"Is mental illness a spiritual or physical condition?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! I am very grateful to God for having found your site, and I have been learning a lot. What I like most is that your answers are teachings from the Bible and not just your own opinion. May God continually bless you,\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":14233,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-homosexuality-a-sign-of-mental-illness\/","url_meta":{"origin":60068,"position":2},"title":"Is homosexuality a sign of mental illness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A few days ago I saw my two friends making out and they are both guys. Everyone thinks they are mentally sick. Does being gay mean you have mental problems? I am really worried about them. They also asked for my suggestions. Answer: Having sex with someone of the\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":90555,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/narcissist\/","url_meta":{"origin":60068,"position":3},"title":"Narcissist","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Osteen \"Narcissists change partners to avoid changing themselves.\" I think the word \"narcissist\" is way overused today, and that lots of times people using the term don't really know what it even means, but there's still an important truth here. You could easily just switch out the word\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-someone-wasnt-in-a-good-mental-state-when-getting-married-is-the-marriage-still-valid\/","url_meta":{"origin":60068,"position":4},"title":"If someone wasn’t in a good mental state when getting married, is the marriage still valid?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If someone was diagnosed with depression, and post-traumatic stress, and were put on meds like Zoloft and Lyrica for chronic pain, and the meds made them crazy, are they really responsible for their actions? If someone got married in that kind of mental state is that marriage still valid\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":83684,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-god-a-narcissist\/","url_meta":{"origin":60068,"position":5},"title":"Is God a Narcissist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Richard Blackford I participate periodically in discussions on a website that atheists run. The accusation has been made frequently that God is a narcissist. He is depicted as a self-centered tyrant absorbed in himself who wants everyone groveling at His feet and needs constant attention. I believe this is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60068","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=60068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}