Do Not Let DOUBTS Destroy Your Faith
One day you think you are in good health. The next day you fee ill. Suddenly, you have no strength or vitality. Your head aches and your body is racked with pain. What has happened? Dangerous pathogens have breached your body’s defense systems and have attacked vital organs. Left untreated, these invading organisms may destroy your health permanently -- even kill you.
OF COURSE, if you are not in good health, when an infection strikes, you are even more vulnerable. If, for example, your body is weakened by malnutrition, your resistance “becomes[s] so low that the least infection may be fatal,” says medical author Peter Wingate.
That being so, who would choose to live in famine conditions? Very likely, you do whatever you can to eat well and stay healthy. You probably also do all you can to avoid exposing yourself to viral or bacterial infection. Do you, however, exercise the same care when it comes to remaining “healthy in faith?” (Titus 2:2) Are you, for example, alert to the danger posed by insidious doubts? These can so easily invade your mind and heart, damaging your faith and your relationship with Jehovah. Some people seem oblivious to this danger. They leave themselves vulnerable to doubts by starving themselves spiritually. Is it possible that you might be doing that?
Doubt--Is It Always Bad?
Of course not all doubt is bad. At times, you need to suspend acceptance of something till you are sure of the facts. Religious exhortations to the effect that you should just believe and should doubt nothing are dangerous and deceptive. True, the Bible says that love “believes all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) A loving Christian is certainly ready to believe those who have proved trustworthy in the past. But God’s Word also warns against ‘putting faith in every word.’ (Proverbs 14:15) Sometimes a person’s past record gives legitimate reason for doubt. “Although [the deceptive talker] makes his voice gracious,” the Bible warns, “do not believe in him.” -- Proverbs 26:24, 25.
The apostle John also warns Christians against blind belief. “Do not
believe every inspired expression,” he writes. Rather, “test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God.” (1 John 4:1) An “expression,” a teaching or opinion, might appear to emanate from God. But did it really come from him? Exercising some doubt, or suspending belief, can be a real protection because, as the apostle John says, “many deceivers have gone forth into the world, --2 John 7.
Unfounded Doubts
Yes, an honest, humble examination of the facts to establish the truth is often called for. This, however, is not the same as allowing unfounded, damaging doubts to develop in our mind and heart--doubts that can wreck our firmly established beliefs and relationships. This doubt is defined as an “uncertainty of belief or opinion that often interferes with decision-making.” Do you remember how Satan infected Eve’s mind with doubts about Jehovah? “Is it really so that God said you must not eat from every tree of the garden?” he asked. (Genesis 3:1) The uncertainty created
by that innocent-sounding question interfered with her decision-making. That is typical of Satan’s methods. Like the so-called poison-pen letter writer, he is skilled at using innuendo, half-truths, and lies. Satan has destroyed countless wholesome, trusting relationships through insidious doubts planted in that way. -- Galatians 5:7-9.
The disciple James clearly understood the damaging effect of this kind of doubt. He writes about the wonderful privilege we have of freely approaching God for help in time of trial. But, James warns, when you do pray to God, “keep on asking in faith, not doubting at all.” Doubts in our relationship with God make us “like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and blown about.” We become like “an indecisive man, unsteady in all his ways.” (James 1:6, 8) We develop an uncertainty of belief that leaves us floundering. Then, as happened to Eve, we become vulnerable to all sorts of demonic teachings and philosophies.
Maintaining Good Spiritual Health
How, then, can we protect ourselves from damaging doubts? The answer
is remarkably simple: by firmly rejecting satanic propaganda and fully
availing ourselves of God’s provisions to make us “solid in the faith.” -- 1 Peter 5:8-10.
Absolutely essential is good personal spiritual feeding. Author Wingate, mentioned earlier, explains: “Even when the body is at rest it needs a continuous supply of energy for chemical processes and for the work of its vital organs; and the materials of many tissues need constant replacement.” It is the same with our spiritual health. Without constant spiritual feeding, our faith, like a body deprived of food, will be progressively damaged and will eventually die. Jesus Christ emphasized this when he said: “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through
Jehovah’s mouth.” -- Matthew 4:4
Think about that. How did we build a strong faith in the first place? “Faith follows the thing heard,” writes the apostle Paul. (Romans 10:17) He means that we initially built our faith and confidence in Jehovah, his promises and his organization by feeding on God’s Word. Of course, we did not just blindly believe all that we heard. We did what people living in the city of Beroea did. We 'carefully examined the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so.' (Acts 17:11) We ‘proved to ourselves the
good and acceptable and perfect will of God’ and made sure that what we had heard was true. (Romans 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:21) Since then, we have likely reinforced our faith as we have come to see ever more clearly that God’s Word and promises never fail. -- Joshua 23:14; Isaiah 55:10, 11.
--------Part 2 is forthcoming.
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