I'm having an issue with the faith :(

[Lady Bug]

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Sorry, thread was inappropriate.

 

[mourningdove~]

Those kinds of feelings are a natural response to when someone is mistreating us. Totally natural.
But as Christians we are called to live a supernatural life in Christ, and He enables us to do so, if we ask Him to.

(And since you've deleted your post, I guess I'm done here! )

 

[Lady Bug]

Those kinds of feelings are a natural response to when someone is mistreating us. Totally natural.
But as Christians we are called to live a supernatural life in Christ, and He enables us to do so, if we ask Him to.

(And since you've deleted your post, I guess I'm done here! )

I regret deleting my post, now.
I was and am feeling more alone tonight than normal and it was a bad idea, I guess, to delete it The problem is, the content of my post did not look very Christian at all. I'll see if I can rewrite it.

 

[mourningdove~]

I regret deleting my post, now.
I was and am feeling more alone tonight than normal and it was a bad idea, I guess, to delete it The problem is, the content of my post did not look very Christian at all. I'll see if I can rewrite it.

Just do what you're comfortable with.

But we all do 'feel' those 'natural' kind of feelings about things.
It's how we choose to 'react' to those feelings, that makes the difference.

 

[Learning always]

I regret deleting my post, now.
I was and am feeling more alone tonight than normal and it was a bad idea, I guess, to delete it The problem is, the content of my post did not look very Christian at all. I'll see if I can rewrite it.

Hello Lady Bug, what did you want to say?

 

[RileyG]

Continued prayers!

 

[Lady Bug]

Hello Lady Bug, what did you want to say?

Well, that I feel it's unnatural for me to feel loving toward those who want to hurt my faith and that it feels more right to hate them and want them to suffer for it, and that those feelings are in conflict with what the faith tells me to feel/think.

 

[RileyG]

Well, that I feel it's unnatural for me to feel loving toward those who want to hurt my faith and that it feels more right to hate them and want them to suffer for it, and that those feelings are in conflict with what the faith tells me to feel/think.

Feelings are not voluntary. You cannot help how you feel. God understands this.

 

[Michie]

Well, that I feel it's unnatural for me to feel loving toward those who want to hurt my faith and that it feels more right to hate them and want them to suffer for it, and that those feelings are in conflict with what the faith tells me to feel/think.

I don’t think you hate them as much as you want to simply sever ties.

 

[Lady Bug]

I don’t think you hate them as much as you want to simply sever ties.

Fair enough, but for me to want to sever ties, I believe I have an extreme enough antipathy to them, even if it's not hate.

 

[Michie]

Fair enough, but for me to want to sever ties, I believe I have an extreme enough antipathy to them, even if it's not hate.

I think once you have more freedom and time away from this stress. You’ll see things more clearly. I don’t see any reunion in your future but I think you’ll find it was more about self protection than hate. They are just not your type of people. And we do not have to associate with those that are unhealthy for us.

 

[boughtwithaprice]

Fair enough, but for me to want to sever ties, I believe I have an extreme enough antipathy to them, even if it's not hate.

Severing ties is not the same as hate. If we continue to associate with those that hurt us, we risk damaging our own faith. It is sometimes better to sever ties and pray for them from the heart. There are times when scripture, aka the word of God tells us, let them be anathema.

The devil likes to uses situations such as this to get us to leave God. It’s a trick don’t let him get away with it.

I will tell you my thinking and I am sure my brothers and sisters can correct me if I am wrong. My point is to tell you God loves you and the devil is trying to take you away from Him.

God commands us to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. The catechism tells us that there is not one soul for whom Christ did not suffer and die. The sin is if we harbor hate in our heart such that we wish evil on another. This is commonly known as schadenfreude. That is when one takes joy in the pain and suffering of another
God does not command us to seek out evil, but maintain patience in suffering. We need to remind ourselves that we are in a spiritual battle, not one against flesh and blood.
If you are constantly hurt through others attacking you, there is nothing wrong with cutting ties and seeking God in prayer. Even Our Lord spent 40 days in the desert in fasting and prayer
You are not in a good place right now so you need to seek to be alone or with those that actually care for you and strengthen your faith
Some of us are frequently wounded in spiritual battle, so we need to look out for each other. 21st century society seems to want to separate us and make us toughen up on our own.
This is not good and gives the devil a chance to get us to doubt our faith and God’s love for us. In the height of Roman persecution, the Christians were hated by the Romans, but they were put to shame when they saw us, as they said “see how they love each other”.
We could use more of that today and I am glad that you came here to share with us

I have family and my sister is involved in witchcraft. She denies it and says she is just following the stars. I have told her that what she is doing is dangerous and exposes her to spiritual attack. She still thinks she is Catholic even though she does not attend Mass or pray, but she can read an astrological chart and try to tell me my horoscope.
I tried to warn her but she won’t listen. Her presence frustrates me and my presence angers her and her family. No good comes from our being together, so I have cut ties and placed her and her family in prayer. When in prayer, I imagine that they have repented and God has given them a higher place in heaven than me. God loves them, and would want me to serve them, but that would be heaven, on earth I have cut ties and tell God not my will but thine be done
It hurts because I do not want to be known as a man that abandons his sister, but for the greater glory of God, I have no choice

You might be in a similar situation

Peace be with you

 

[mourningdove~]

Well, that I feel it's unnatural for me to feel loving toward those who want to hurt my faith and that it feels more right to hate them and want them to suffer for it, and that those feelings are in conflict with what the faith tells me to feel/think.

Those feelings are natural to feel when being mistreated.
But to harbor those feelings in our heart, or act negatively on those feelings, would be sin.

(And frankly, harboring feelings of hatred in our heart makes us more spiritually susceptible to the attacks of the enemy.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us to love (agape) our enemies. Agape love is the highest form of love.

From the Catholic Dictionary:

AGAPE
The most distinctively Christian form of love. Used by Christ to describe the love among the persons of the Trinity, it is also the love He commanded His followers to have for one another (John 13:34-35). It is totally selfless love, which seeks not one's own advantage but only to benefit or share with another.

How do we do this Divine kind of love towards someone who is hurting us?
We do it by surrendering our lives to God, and asking Him to do it.

Something I try to remember:
When God commands us to do something, He does so intending to provide the supernatural ability to obey Him.

... But first, we do need to surrender our lives to Him, so that He can freely work thru us to accomplish His purposes.

Please note: I do not advise for anyone to stay in an abusive, destructive situation. But if/when there appears to be 'no way out' for the moment, then surrender to God and trust in Him is the way 'through' it.