Discouragement: how to fight it?

oneway123 said:

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and made an account to ask this question.

I'm in my twenties and have been trying to fight discouragement for years. I also was depressed. Actually, for more than 5 years I believed God didn't love me as much as he loved others, and I tried to 'gain' Gods love but I never was enough. After that God started to work in my life and I can finally say that God loves me and that I don't gave to 'gain' anything because Jesus paid the price already.

However, I keep having these moments of discouragement and negative thinking about myself and my future. In these moments I get this (almost physically) negative feeling that's dragging me down, deeply. Sometimes I can't stop crying for 2 or more hours and I feel really bad. After that it stops, but I still feel bad because it costed a lot of energy. These kind of moments feel like a step back in faith because I lose hope on growing and being steadfast in faith.

Question 1: How can I fight this?
In these moments I know that my feelings are not true and that God loves me and wants me to grow instead of feeling condemned and hopeless. I try to keep looking at God, I pray and read the Bible. But still my feelings seem to take over every time. I know in these moments I find it hard to not only look at myself (self-pity). I also tried putting on worship or listen to sermons, but sometimes hearing someone preach even makes it worse.

Question 2: How to handle criticism?
I'm a sensitive person (due to my childhood as well) and when I feel a bit discouraged criticism hits me hard. I have a great christian friend who helps me a lot, but sometimes he criticizes my faith when he sees a weakness. I feel the enemy is trying to discourage me through this.

On one hand I know I shouldn't be discouraged by what others say about my faith. But now I'm being a bit cautious/scared to share a lot about faith with him - which feels awkward. God is definitely teaching me some things, but I don't know what to do and sometimes discouragement makes me crazy.

Any suggestions? Thanks for reading!

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oneway123 said:

Thank you for the support. This friend is actually trying to help me and he is walking with the Lord. He has many strengths, but being critical is his weakness (in this case, because I'm too easily discouraged). He is already trying to keep these thoughts for himself and not trying to "help me". But I still find it difficult.

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oneway123 said:

Thank you, you're so right. I do ask myself if the discouragement thing is a cross (like Paul had a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble), or if it's something that should be battled and overcome. God will hopefully show me some day.

Any personal experiences with recurring discouragement?

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oneway123 said:

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and made an account to ask this question.

I'm in my twenties and have been trying to fight discouragement for years. I also was depressed. Actually, for more than 5 years I believed God didn't love me as much as he loved others, and I tried to 'gain' Gods love but I never was enough. After that God started to work in my life and I can finally say that God loves me and that I don't gave to 'gain' anything because Jesus paid the price already.

However, I keep having these moments of discouragement and negative thinking about myself and my future. In these moments I get this (almost physically) negative feeling that's dragging me down, deeply. Sometimes I can't stop crying for 2 or more hours and I feel really bad. After that it stops, but I still feel bad because it costed a lot of energy. These kind of moments feel like a step back in faith because I lose hope on growing and being steadfast in faith.

Question 1: How can I fight this?
In these moments I know that my feelings are not true and that God loves me and wants me to grow instead of feeling condemned and hopeless. I try to keep looking at God, I pray and read the Bible. But still my feelings seem to take over every time. I know in these moments I find it hard to not only look at myself (self-pity). I also tried putting on worship or listen to sermons, but sometimes hearing someone preach even makes it worse.

Question 2: How to handle criticism?
I'm a sensitive person (due to my childhood as well) and when I feel a bit discouraged criticism hits me hard. I have a great christian friend who helps me a lot, but sometimes he criticizes my faith when he sees a weakness. I feel the enemy is trying to discourage me through this.

On one hand I know I shouldn't be discouraged by what others say about my faith. But now I'm being a bit cautious/scared to share a lot about faith with him - which feels awkward. God is definitely teaching me some things, but I don't know what to do and sometimes discouragement makes me crazy.

Any suggestions? Thanks for reading!

Click to expand...

oneway123 said:

@John Hyperspace: wise words! Thinking about this perspective, discouragement can be turned into encouragement. Thank you so much for sharing!

@antletems: thank you for showing adversity is making you steadfast, and be blessed!

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oneway123 said:

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and made an account to ask this question.

I'm in my twenties and have been trying to fight discouragement for years. I also was depressed. Actually, for more than 5 years I believed God didn't love me as much as he loved others, and I tried to 'gain' Gods love but I never was enough. After that God started to work in my life and I can finally say that God loves me and that I don't gave to 'gain' anything because Jesus paid the price already.

However, I keep having these moments of discouragement and negative thinking about myself and my future. In these moments I get this (almost physically) negative feeling that's dragging me down, deeply. Sometimes I can't stop crying for 2 or more hours and I feel really bad. After that it stops, but I still feel bad because it costed a lot of energy. These kind of moments feel like a step back in faith because I lose hope on growing and being steadfast in faith.

Question 1: How can I fight this?
In these moments I know that my feelings are not true and that God loves me and wants me to grow instead of feeling condemned and hopeless. I try to keep looking at God, I pray and read the Bible. But still my feelings seem to take over every time. I know in these moments I find it hard to not only look at myself (self-pity). I also tried putting on worship or listen to sermons, but sometimes hearing someone preach even makes it worse.

Question 2: How to handle criticism?
I'm a sensitive person (due to my childhood as well) and when I feel a bit discouraged criticism hits me hard. I have a great christian friend who helps me a lot, but sometimes he criticizes my faith when he sees a weakness. I feel the enemy is trying to discourage me through this.

On one hand I know I shouldn't be discouraged by what others say about my faith. But now I'm being a bit cautious/scared to share a lot about faith with him - which feels awkward. God is definitely teaching me some things, but I don't know what to do and sometimes discouragement makes me crazy.

Any suggestions? Thanks for reading!

Click to expand...