“Bothering The Babies”

Friday, July 20, 2012

     I am newly saved and born again, and I am tormented with constant intrusive thoughts, even blasphemous thoughts of the Holy Spirit.  I would never ever believe them, and I hate them, but I was telling my mother-in-law everything I was thinking about, and I am scared I made the unforgivable sin just by relaying the thought I had.  Please, help me.

Sincerely,
Thought Tortured

Dear Thought Tortured,

We often think that we have complete control over what we think, but that isn’t true.  For example, as you read the word “dog”, you can’t help but think of dogs.  The more we tell you not to think of dogs, the more you do!  What thoughts pop into our heads aren’t inherently sinful; they only become sinful when we embrace them (such as lust in our heart – Matt 5:28) or by acting upon them (such as outbursts of anger – Eph 4:26).

It is not a surprise that in your newborn Christian state you are struggling with evil thoughts.  The devil preys on us most when we are weak (1 Pet 5:8), and when we first become Christians, we are babies with a lot of growing to do and still very susceptible to falling away (1 Pet 2:2).  You haven’t committed the unforgivable sin.  It takes more than a few words to do that.  Read “Stop Thinking That!” for more details on what the sin against the Holy Spirit really is.

Hang in there; you are perfectly normal, and there isn’t anything you are doing wrong.  Find a faithful church (we can help you with that if you’d like!), keep plugging away at learning and applying the Scriptures, and you’ll do just fine (Rom 1:16, Jas 1:22).

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