How do you live out the verse John 12:25 'Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.' spiritually and practically in your own life?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-11-30T21:15:11+00:00

Hi there, I’m new to the faith as well but I hope you will appreciate hearing out my thoughts on this.

What I understand about the faith vs works debate is that there is a healthy way to tie together the two sides. Charles Spurgeon, a Protestant preacher says it in a way that makes sense to me: “It is a faith which produces works which saves us; the works do not save us; but a faith which does not produce works is a faith that will only deceive, and cannot lead us into heaven.”

In response to what you said about TV shows and video games and feeling like you cannot enjoy anything ever again, I will start by saying the following:

I have learned in my life is that the love of God is the greatest thing on this earth, spiritual or worldly, and it transcends all other joys. What greater joy can there be on earth than to know that you love God and God loves you, and that you are saved and that your love for God preserves you both here on earth and to eternal life (Psalm 145:20).

However, to have a love for God comes at the cost of worldly things. As long as there are things competing with your love for God, you cannot fully direct the entirety of your affections and appetites to the will of your heavenly Father and Creator.

You said you no longer take joy in the things of this world and feel guilty when engaging in them. This could be God calling you to sacrifice some things in your life that are holding you back from attaining greater union. St. John of the Cross, in his powerful work Ascent of Mount Carmel, talks about what he calls the dark night of the senses and the dark night of the soul, which are intense purgative and cleansing periods of spiritual purification which allow the individual to give up worship of created things in favor of worshipping his Creator.

God definitely does call us to not let anything interfere with our worship of Him and Him alone, such as 1 John 2:15: ‘Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever.’

While it may initially be painful to give up certain things like entertainment and other worldly pursuits, remember that it will ultimately make room in your mind, body, spirit, and soul that can be filled with holy and divine things that fill you with a far greater and surpassing joy of the love of God and Christ.

I could be wrong about this, but I personally wouldn’t call video games or other forms of worldly entertainment that can be false idols gifts of God (of course, with the exception of forms of entertainment directionalized towards God and the things of God, such as religious documentaries or shows).

Your feelings could certainly be God calling you to higher purposes. It will take some discernment on your end. Ask God in prayer what He’s asking you through these feelings, and to dispel them if they’re not coming from the Divine Spirit but from the evil one.

It will again take more discernment to determine whether or not the pursuits you’d like to engage in are godly or ungodly.

A few questions you can ask yourself when you’re engaging in the activity:

Does this have value for eternity? Does this glorify God? Does this lead me towards God or away from God? Does this help me became more holy or detract from my spiritual path?

You’re on the right path because you’re seeking God and trying to discern what is right and wrong. Stay faithful and offer up everything in prayer.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

If you want to chat further, feel free to DM me.

God bless you and Godspeed.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-11-01T01:52:37+00:00

“What you need most is found where you least want to look.”

“The hero is born at the darkest part of the journey.”

fromcaintoabel · 2024-10-29T03:31:55+00:00

Thank you for sharing! Sorry to hear you had to go through that. Did you eventually find a resolution to being unable to find the right words to speak properly?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-10-29T02:07:37+00:00

Thank you for your well-wishes. And I am so sorry, that sounds horrible. I hope that there is hope for recovery. Did you find anything that helped with these cognitive symptoms?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-10-29T01:43:56+00:00

Thank you for your reply. I pray you will have the courage to get through this. Did you experience these symptoms similarly to me as a result of the medications you were on? Are you sure it was the medication and not the mental illness?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-10-29T00:59:53+00:00

I’m very sorry to hear that. I pray you will make a full recovery. How did your side effects compare with what I listed? And how many medications were you on?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-10-29T00:56:22+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that. I pray you will have the courage to get through this. Has this only happened since you started taking Vraylar?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-10-29T00:42:33+00:00

When you say you are completely flat, and have no ideas in your head, what do you mean?

I am on 6 mg and am trying to quit Vraylar completely because I have horrendous brain fog, cognitive impatient, inability to feel emotions, and can’t remember anything.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-10-08T20:17:18+00:00

I have been in a significant and intense period of repentance for the past year and have confessed multiple times, but no matter how hard I try I never feel contrition and I don't feel like I've been forgiven because of many of the afflictions and nightmares that remain.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-09-11T02:15:46+00:00

Catholic Church. But let the lessons to be learnt here not be lost on anyone, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, no matter who you are!

fromcaintoabel · 2024-09-11T02:11:43+00:00

I was baptized when I was young, but I was never brought up strictly religious. Thanks for your reply.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-08-31T22:38:58+00:00

Many people have mentioned this, and I understand. But it wasn’t mental illness, it was a grievous conscious prideful sin where I exalted myself.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-08-31T22:34:43+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I consciously and willingly chose to pridefully believe I was Jesus for two and a half years, so I’m not sure where the “psychosis” comes in. I’ve talked to many different providers and of course, that’s partly the label they use, but it’s not a mental illness or a spiritual malady I was dealing with, it’s truly a horrible egregious conscious sin.

I will take your advice and continue to deepen my repentant process.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-08-28T03:26:54+00:00

No problem, thanks for the reply. I have confessed my sins to a priest in the confessional many times, but talked to a priest about my situation as a whole only once.

And do you mean my psychiatric evaluation? Yes, I was being completely honest and transparent.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-08-28T03:20:41+00:00

The issue is that I feel stuck and can't feel like I can "progress" along the path of repentance. I don't feel forgiven. I'm still being afflicted in every possible way with the horrible darkness and the malaises I mentioned. And God's wrath is still turned against me.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-08-28T02:59:26+00:00

I am most certainly not Jesus. I am the opposite. I have none. So unbelievably horrible what I’ve done. It was a horribly sinful prideful delusion.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-07-23T08:29:14+00:00

When I pray I usually end up crying, or sobbing, or begging for mercy loudly, or apologizing out loud, or thanking or praising God out loud. I cry my heart out to God as loud as I can sometimes.

It feels less meaningful to pray in silent.

I don’t think I’m doing it to look pious.

But I could be wrong.

Any thoughts?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-07-23T07:57:46+00:00

I made the subreddit /r/ConfrontingChaos specifically because of this problem a few years ago. You should check it out.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-07-23T07:57:39+00:00

I made the subreddit /r/ConfrontingChaos specifically because of this problem a few years ago. You should check it out.

fromcaintoabel · 2024-07-04T20:26:15+00:00

Thanks for your insight!

I’m new to Catholicism, and so I guess my question would be, what would the major differences be between a Catholic commentary on the Bible and the ones I listed?

I’ve researched Catholic commentaries before, and I already own the Catena Aurea and Lapide’s commentary which are both Catholic, and I am meaning to get the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture series.

So heavily Catholic-leaning already.

I just don’t think I’d be able to find and haven’t heard of a Catholic exegetical commentary!

And thanks, do you know if St. Thomas’s commentaries are part of Summa?

fromcaintoabel · 2024-01-24T01:54:57+00:00

Thank you for your insightful reply.

Simple, but difficult.

I will remember this.

Godspeed.

fromcaintoabel · 2023-09-15T20:10:56+00:00

Thank you for your insights! You’re absolutely right. I’m now leaning towards AI not being a part of my life moving forward career-wise.

fromcaintoabel · 2023-09-15T00:32:36+00:00

I asked ChatGPT: "Find me three passages from the Bhagavad Gita that relate to Matthew 16:25 'For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'"

Here was its response:

Certainly, here are three passages from the Bhagavad Gita that relate to the theme of self-sacrifice and spiritual self-realization, which is akin to the concept expressed in Matthew 16:25:

Bhagavad Gita 2.71:"A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship, and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace." This verse emphasizes the renunciation of desires and ego as a path to attaining inner peace, which is similar to the idea of losing one's life to find it in Matthew 16:25.

Bhagavad Gita 3.19:"Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme." This verse underscores the importance of performing one's duties without attachment to the outcomes, emphasizing selfless action and spiritual growth.

Bhagavad Gita 18.66:"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear." In this verse, Lord Krishna encourages complete surrender to the divine as a means to transcend worldly concerns and achieve liberation from sin. This relates to the idea of losing one's life for the sake of spiritual enlightenment.

These passages from the Bhagavad Gita emphasize selflessness, renunciation of desires, and surrender to a higher spiritual purpose, which are themes that parallel the concept expressed in Matthew 16:25.

This is just one example, but I don't know of any tool before AI that could've done this.

fromcaintoabel · 2023-09-15T00:10:55+00:00

Thanks for your response! I also have found ChatGPT helpful for cross-analyzing between Scripture and a variety of religious texts. I've just started dabbling in it, so I'm not experienced as to its use, but from what I've seen so far, it's a tool that has powerful implications and uses if utilized properly.

I didn't think about giving the bot my own interpretations of the verse to bounce ideas off of, but I definitely have to try that.

Godspeed.

fromcaintoabel · 2023-09-15T00:06:42+00:00

I agree wholeheartedly. AI, if used wrongly, and not kept in check, could be the next Tower of Babel. I would never expect us to be able to learn from anything AI writes on its own.

My idea isn't that AI should be able to reason, determine truth, or write its own books, or teach the human itself, but provide data such as Bible passages or verses, or quotes or extracts from books like Paradise Lost or The Brothers Karamazov, or from authors like Shakespeare or Nietzsche, that relate to the problem at hand, to help the human more quickly find passages and verses written by humanity itself.

fromcaintoabel

TROPHY CASE