Struggling to know whether I'm saved or not

I'll take my place in line too. I also am struggling with my faith and unsure of where I stand in God's eyes.

looking4joy said:

I read a lot of the Bible, so my head is full of information, but my heart is afraid. I feel like my heart can't grasp what my head knows. The joy of the Lord isn't in me. This is really common among people with certain mental illness like mine. We don't feel much empathy or compassion or happiness or contentment, joy or assurance or excitement. All the good emotions are flattened and the bad emotions, like fear, anger, confusion, anxiety and depression all come out. I want to have joy. It's a fruit of the Spirit of God. But I don't know what I have or am doing wrong. I've repented from some very struggling sins, and confessed them all, that I need Jesus to help me and forgive me.

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That is very true.

I am so glad you see how your mental illness adds to your issues.

The best thing is positive self talk. This needs to happen when you feel yourself saying certain things in your head that you KNOW are NOT TRUE.

What you need to do is focus on God's promises. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will always forgive your sin when you repent.

Romans 8:37-39
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, evenwhen we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.


Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Job 34:19 who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Voices and choices,

1 Corinthians 13:4 . How to apply to self. I am a huge believer the Word is Omni . Thus, different translations and churches . ToBeLoved posted a profound 3 steps to wisdom and the last step < for me, relates to that scripture above that it is different in translation in appliance to selves. With that said, try looking at that verse in relation to the loudness of the voices in the head. The one that is good is a whisper for it will not vaunt itself. Thus, it is easily drowned out by physical voices (people) and the shouting in the head when alone . It comes down to train the brain to recognize the whisper and choose it. Just a suggestion piece, brother, pray on it with the final authority .

looking4joy said:

I read a lot of the Bible, so my head is full of information, but my heart is afraid. I feel like my heart can't grasp what my head knows. The joy of the Lord isn't in me. This is really common among people with certain mental illness like mine. We don't feel much empathy or compassion or happiness or contentment, joy or assurance or excitement. All the good emotions are flattened and the bad emotions, like fear, anger, confusion, anxiety and depression all come out. I want to have joy. It's a fruit of the Spirit of God. But I don't know what I have or am doing wrong. I've repented from some very struggling sins, and confessed them all, that I need Jesus to help me and forgive me.

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Jesus HAS forgiven you.

When you repent Jesus forgives you. Ask God to change your heart. To take away all that hurt, pain and everything inside you that is not His will for you. Ask Him to help you be kind, considerate, loving.

Know that Jesus always forgives you. You must know and believe that, that is one of God's promises to you.

looking4joy said:

Yep. When I'm in that thinking mode I am doubting that God will hold to His Word. Sometimes my view of God gets skewed and I fall prey to a false concept of what God's character really is about. In that thinking, yes I would think that God would break His covenant with me.

But the Holy Spirit searches me deeper than you do. He knows my heart, my willingness to believe, and my struggle to believe. He brings me around. No one on the forum can.

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What keeps it solid in my heart is the sweetness of His love, and how He has been faithful to me my entire life. It says in the scripture that when we are faithless, He is faithful..that has definitely been true in my life. If the Holy Spirit is leading you then you know that you belong to Jesus, by the way:

Romans 8:14

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God

Prayer and taking the word to heart will help you grow in your assurance. God bless!

thesunisout said:

What keeps it solid in my heart is the sweetness of His love, and how He has been faithful to me my entire life. It says in the scripture that when we are faithless, He is faithful..that has definitely been true in my life. If the Holy Spirit is leading you then you know that you belong to Jesus, by the way:

Romans 8:14

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God

Prayer and taking the word to heart will help you grow in your assurance. God bless!

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Amen to that ,

Been a minute TSIO my brother .

"The sun sets on the good as well as the evil" is a good reference too LFJ . Grace .
Your peace is what is missing . Self and somebody tells you that your mental state is "ill" and you believe it whole heartedly. Did you know that the obedient will be considered "mentally ill" by the world? Reaffirmation of your mentality by people begets belief when one follows people. In my minds eye if you talk to yourself (in picture it is our duality and/or Spiritual warfare made physical by those that are "not" numb to it) because you are tuned to the Spirits it comes down to choice, right? As in the previous authored post loudness has a purpose . It is to distract from that whisper. Again, as TBL said, positive affirmation for self. Doctors are in your head for the money
and loved ones have agendas or may truly care for your well being. However, doubt of your salvation ??? Who tells you this? If it is self, is it not your choice to believe the negativity? If it is somebody, plan a sever from that influence who sows doubt. No MAN can guide the Spirit (that is the preacher too) yet a common thing is, a person that gets saved through a preacher follows the preacher . That is in violation of scripture for our trust is in the preacher. Flesh encompasses all. Flesh is the gates to hell when we trust them or selves more than God Matthew 16:18.

In hopes this helps. It is said we actually suggest to ourselves when we "try" to help another. So mayhap these missives talk to me not you .

civilwarbuff said:

Baptism is necessary to receive the Holy Spirit and He is necessary for Christian growth and understanding.

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A literal reading of Ephesians 1:13-14 clearly says the Holy Spirit was sealed within us at the moment of belief. Paul repeated this promise in 2 Cor. 1:21-22 and 2 Cor. 5:5 without mentioning baptism.

looking4joy said:

I have trouble implementing the truth into this dense mind of mine. I have confessed the same sins over and over, have told God I need a Savior, and I believe Jesus is that Savior, and I'm scared and need him to love me and be my friend.

I don't know if I'm not yet a Christian or whether I'm a Christian who is having problems believing and trusting. What do you think? Has anybody had this struggle before?

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I go through a downward spiral from believing I'm loved by God and that He accepts me and will use me, to believing that I must not have even become a real Christian in the first place because I haven't spoken enough about Christ, or joy is not evident in my life, or I would not have doubts or...and then I condemn and disqualify myself from God's promises with the "if you truly..." at the end of the verses. I must not truly...I start believing Satan's lies and fall into the trap of false shame from the mouth of the accuser. Accusing voices from the past come up that have used shame to manipulate and control, and cause self doubt. Toxic Shame (not guilt that leads to repentance) is a powerful, destructive tool of the enemy. It's hard to trust that God has a plan for my life and still loves me while being convinced that I must have placed myself beyond His grace, or that He is so angry or disgusted that He would want nothing to do with me. I have had to keep praying, ask for prayer and stay in God's word with other believers, especially focusing on the parts about His unconditional love and grace