A Wise Counselor Once Told Me…

During the first few months after I gave my life totally to Christ, I sometimes felt like I wasn’t a Christian. Sometimes I felt close to God and the next time, He seemed a million miles away. I grew depressed and defeated because I thought my feelings reflected my spiritual condition. Then, a wise counselor encouraged me to turn to 1 John 5:13 where it says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

When I made a decision to believe this scripture in God’s Word to be true, it caused faith to rise up in my heart. I knew that I had chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. His Word settled it for me because I believed it to be true. I knew I could not base my relationship with God on my feelings; in fact, I had to realize that sometimes my emotions do not line up with the truth. I am in relationship with God because He says I am. I found he gives so many promises in His Word that I can trust. God’s Word brought a deepening sense of His love for me and caused me to trust Him regardless of how I felt at the moment.

Our lives are completely changed when we see ourselves according to what God says about us and about Himself, not by how we feel. People’s misperceptions about themselves are often based on their misperceptions of God. When we know what God’s Word says, we will be guided by the Holy Spirit to walk in repentance, faith and discipline in our new lives.