fear of hell

[Monica4316]

Sometimes I think of death and realize that I don’t really know for sure if I’ll be going to heaven or to hell… and I know that none of us know, and we only have the hope of Heaven.

When I think of this after Confession, or when I know that I’m going in the right direction and doing God’s will, I feel hope in His mercy…

but when I think of this while I have unconfessed sin, I sometimes feel so much fear, - that one day I would go to hell. I also have the same fear about other people.

Is this normal? or does this show distrust in God?

I’m afraid that I’ve missed something… that I’ve sinned in some way that I haven’t repented of… however after Confession I always feel more hope, and when I’m close to God, I don’t feel afraid at all.

any thoughts? does anyone else get this?

God bless

 

[Wildgraywolf]

Well, just remember, God went to an awful lot of trouble to save people. He is a saving God.

So, worry less, trust more, participate in the the sacraments and Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

 

[Monica4316]

Well, just remember, God went to an awful lot of trouble to save people. He is a saving God.

that is true… I find that thinking of the Cross really helps
thanks.

So, worry less, trust more, participate in the the sacraments and Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

I just feel so unable to overcome sin, and to love God and neighbour more… I see many imperfections in myself and I wish I loved God more but I know I don’t. I don’t really expect me to be any different so this isn’t so much discouraging as - it just makes me afraid that I won’t persevere and will go to hell. I want to be more like the Saints and to pray more and love God more, but whenever I try, I fail…

 

[presidentjlh]

I hope this isn’t considered heresy, but I think God knows when we are truly trying and when we are just giving in. Those that are truly trying, I think, don’t have as much culpability.

 

[Monica4316]

I hope this isn’t considered heresy, but I think God knows when we are truly trying and when we are just giving in. Those that are truly trying, I think, don’t have as much culpability.

I think / hope this is true it seems like the Catholic teaching…

I just hope that one day God would transform me into who He wants me to be… maybe this would be through purgatory, I dont know.

 

[Lief_Erikson]

Dear Monica,

First of all, I’ll mention this is something a lot of people deal with.

Second, you mention that all you have is hope that we will be saved. Hope is one of the three theological virtues, though .

Romans 5:3-5

Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Hope is the pathway to eternal life, for it comes hand in hand with faith and love. These are not just feelings but are gifts of grace we cooperate with through the orientation of our wills. So if all you feel is hope, you have good reason to love and rejoice, for this is a fruit of God within you. We feel hope because we have faith in Jesus, so the presence of hope is a sign of the action of the Holy Spirit and the seal of our salvation .

Monica:

but when I think of this while I have unconfessed sin, I sometimes feel so much fear, - that one day I would go to hell. I also have the same fear about other people.

Is this normal? or does this show distrust in God?

Well, it’s an imperfection. It’s one that I don’t know how we can choose to not have. People just grow out of that fault over time, through Christ’s guidance in their lives, for He gives faith as a gift in growing quantities rather than giving us all faith instantly. “To the one who has, more will be given,” as He says in the Scripture. I don’t know what we can do in the short-term except pray for more faith, hope and love, something we should always be doing ( ).

Some things that have been very important to me to understand as I grow in the spiritual life are that I am very weak and very spiritually immature, but God sees my immaturity and weakness and is merciful anyway. He doesn’t expect me to be a canonization level saint instantly but expects me to grow bit by bit according to His time schedule, just as children grow to physical adulthood over the course of many years.

If God doesn’t expect me to instantly be at the height of perfection, but treats me as a parent would a child, understanding and caring for me even in all my faults, what right have I to demand more of myself than He does? We have to be merciful to ourselves because Christ is merciful to us, and we have to be merciful to others for the same reason.

We need to know that we are weak and this is to be expected, for we are growing children of God, only children and no more, but dearly loved as we are and being developed into God’s image one step at a time. If we know that God does not expect of us more than we have grace and maturity to offer, and know that He is looking at us as a parent would his children, we have cause for confidence and joy. And if we stop expecting everything of ourselves now and clobbering ourselves for our mistakes (as our parent never would), but instead treat ourselves with mercy just as Christ does, this makes life easier, more joyful and more peaceful. This also is a fruit of humility, for to treat ourselves with mercy, we cannot take ourselves too seriously. If we raise ourselves up on a high pedestal, it is hard to forgive ourselves, but if we consider ourselves to be weak and immature, it is much easier, for faults are to be expected rather than the horrible shock our egos make them.

 

[Lief_Erikson]

I think / hope this is true it seems like the Catholic teaching…

I just hope that one day God would transform me into who He wants me to be… maybe this would be through purgatory, I dont know.

We’re all God’s children. I’m a toddler. I need to learn to walk before I can learn to run, and my Father understands that, as any good parent will. Spiritual growth takes time.

You needn’t worry about Purgatory. You’re seeking Christ now and that’s all He wants. What matters is what He wants, and He isn’t expecting more of us than He has given us grace and maturity to offer. But even when we sin horribly before Him, His Mercy annihilates our sin so that we are spotless. We shouldn’t expect more of ourselves than that we will be weak and flawed sheep, for Christ doesn’t, but we should expect through faith that we shall always grow in godliness until the fulfillment of all things, and through Christ this will be done.

I’m saying we should understand ourselves as sinners and know that God understands us this way too, and He doesn’t expect instant perfection from us but expects us to simply grow in Him now and always. This knowledge that we are expected to grow into perfection (John 17:23) and not instantaneously be sinless is liberating, if we don’t look at ourselves too highly but know ourselves to be sinners and loved in spite of our sin. If we don’t look at ourselves too highly, our faults are less shocking and we can enter God’s Mercy more easily and with greater freedom.

 

[shondrea]

Welcome to the wonderful world of scupulosity, my friend!

I suffer from the same thing. In my head, I sin with every breath, i fear Hell so badly that even the mention of the world cna send me into an anxiety attack, I agonizre over EVERY choice I make, feelings everythign I do is a mortal sin.

But here’s something to remember; when we stand before God, he doesn’t see us as a human does. A human sees our sins and our triumphs, and that is all. And we judge on that. but GOD, he sees your INTENTIONS. he SEES that you fear displeasing him, that you have NO DESIRE to turn away from him. You WILL sin, you WILL stumble, and at times, you WILL fall, but rest assured, my friend; God sees that you’re TRYING. Heaven isn’t about getting an A for perfection. it’s more like an E for Effort

Lief has a great point, about growth. Now, I can just HEAR you thinking, but what if I die before I’ve grown enough? What if I haven’t become the devout Catholic I know God wants me to be before I die? What if I literally DO die trying? I know, because I feel the same. To me, it’s like, I know God knows I’m growing, but it takes a lot to keep telling myself that even if God were to take me early, just as I started on my journey, he knows where I was headed! It’s like being found passed away on a lonely road, but having a highlighted ap clenched oh so fervently in your fist. You may have fallen, but those who come to take you know where you were going

 

[Lief_Erikson]

To me, it’s like, I know God knows I’m growing, but it takes a lot to keep telling myself that even if God were to take me early, just as I started on my journey, he knows where I was headed! It’s like being found passed away on a lonely road, but having a highlighted ap clenched oh so fervently in your fist. You may have fallen, but those who come to take you know where you were going

Indeed, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” He is not only the Destination but the Way. So if we have just turned our hearts toward God, even covered in sins and falling at every step, we are on the Way and consequently are in Jesus. And everyone who is found in Jesus will be saved.

 

[shondrea]

Exactly. One way I always like to look at it is to imagine someone who has lead a veyr sinful life. Fornication, living by no religion or in religous name only, heavy drinkers, prostitutes, anyone who has a sullied and sinful life. Think about that kind of person, OP. How much they have done to harm themselves, and harm others.

Now, imagine that one day, when they are at rock bottom, they feel the truth in their hearts. They are broken and tired and weak and afraid, and they finally realize that this life has failed them, and they MUST turn to God, to Christianity, to Jesus. That they MUST turn their lives around and start living by the will of God. They make the vow to change themselves for God. If this person were to then walk out the door and be hit by a bus, what do you think would happen to them?

One might think, they’d go to hell, because they had sinned horrible, mortally, and had not yet rependted. But God SEES where they were going. he sees their newfound desire to follow God, to leave their old lives behind. He sees that they took the first step by renouncing their old ways. Purgatory would be long and painful for them, but I fully believe they would eventually reach heaven, because of their new WILL for God.

Like we always say, the worst man on earth could beg repentance on his last breath. It’s up to God to know how sincere that wish was.

 

[Lief_Erikson]

Exactly. One way I always like to look at it is to imagine someone who has lead a veyr sinful life. Fornication, living by no religion or in religous name only, heavy drinkers, prostitutes, anyone who has a sullied and sinful life. Think about that kind of person, OP. How much they have done to harm themselves, and harm others.

Now, imagine that one day, when they are at rock bottom, they feel the truth in their hearts. They are broken and tired and weak and afraid, and they finally realize that this life has failed them, and they MUST turn to God, to Christianity, to Jesus. That they MUST turn their lives around and start living by the will of God. They make the vow to change themselves for God. If this person were to then walk out the door and be hit by a bus, what do you think would happen to them?

One might think, they’d go to hell, because they had sinned horrible, mortally, and had not yet rependted. But God SEES where they were going. he sees their newfound desire to follow God, to leave their old lives behind. He sees that they took the first step by renouncing their old ways. Purgatory would be long and painful for them, but I fully believe they would eventually reach heaven, because of their new WILL for God.

My favorite story referring to what you’re saying is Jonah’s preaching to the Assyrians. They were as evil and bloodstained as it gets. In the Books of Isaiah and Judith, they are presented as a type of Satan. Yet at the time of Jonah, before the Sacrament of Confession was instituted and at a time when it was available to no one, they repented at Jonah’s preaching and God spared their lives and presumably their souls (as He did with some of the souls killed in the Flood, as we can see from 1 Peter 3:18-21) in spite of all their horrendous sins.

Here’s another Biblical reference.
Ezekiel 18:21-28:

21 "But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. 22 None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

24 "But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.

25 "Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. 27 But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. 28 Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.

shondrea:

Like we always say, the worst man on earth could beg repentance on his last breath. It’s up to God to know how sincere that wish was.

Yes.

Matthew 7:8 points out, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

In Church language, this is called “Baptism by Desire,” a concept present among the Early Church Fathers and more clearly defined in the last few centuries.

 

[Monica4316]

thank you everyone

I remember one time I went to Confession, and afterwards I felt SO cleansed, I felt like my soul was completely pure and there was nothing separating me from God. Then when I went to Adoration, I was able to love God and adore Him in the Blessed Sacrament, and when I received the Eucharist, Christ united Himself with me… it’s like my soul was filled with light and the Holy Spirit. It was so beautiful, and I want so much to be forgiven and to have a clean soul again, to know that there’s nothing between me and God, so I can love Him truly… whenever I have sin, it’s like I’m unable to be with Him, it separates me from God… I hate sin yet I’m unable to stop sinning I just hope that when I’ll go to Confession on Saturday, afterwards I’ll be reunited with God and be able to receive the Eucharist with a pure heart. My greatest fear is losing God… not even the pain of hell, but this horrible loss and regret, forever. I think what I’ve done, it’s only just that God wouldn’t want to forgive me… but I really need His mercy so much.

 

[Monica4316]

But I think that feeling pain because of sin is evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in our lives, because if a person were truly lost and beyond repentance or salvation, they would be completely blind until they die and find themselves in hell. I don’t mean blind like those who are invinsibly ignorant, but through their own choosing and rejection of grace and conversion.

I feel a lot of pain right now because of my sins, and I really want to love God and neighbour and wish I could be more like the Saints… I think these are all graces because there’s no way I could have this on my own!

praise God!

 

[shondrea]

But my dear, even he saints sinned and felt pain and separation from God

 

[Mijoy2]

I worry about this too. I worry as to just how God will judge my heart. I believe we are incapable of judging our own hearts. Therefore I really have no way of knowing if I am a humble loving individual who loves others and loves God with all my heart mind and soul or if I am deceiving myself and really am a prideful selfish opportunist who relatively speaking only cares for myself and my own interests and therfore should be condemmed to hell for all eternity.

We are all only a data point of one within ourselves. We cannot become another momentarily and therefore make a comparative analysis. I know not how others love, to what degree, therefore I cannot know myself.

How is one to know? Weird huh?

 

[Monica4316]

I worry about this too. I worry as to just how God will judge my heart. I believe we are incapable of judging our own hearts. Therefore I really have no way of knowing if I am a humble loving individual who loves others and loves God with all my heart mind and soul or if I am deceiving myself and really am a prideful selfish opportunist who relatively speaking only cares for myself and my own interests and therfore should be condemmed to hell for all eternity.

We are all only a data point of one within ourselves. We cannot become another momentarily and therefore make a comparative analysis. I know not how others love, to what degree, therefore I cannot know myself.

How is one to know? Weird huh?

I’m thinking…maybe God will look at our conscious intentions? ie… the things we *can *control?

I think we really need to trust that He wants us to be saved…

I know how you feel though

 

[presidentjlh]

Some may say that I am overly optimistic about the salvation of others, namely a number of the earlier Saints.

Yet, no matter what I am told, I still have this strange feeling that we are in for a very pleasant surprise when we die when it comes to the salvation of others. I have looked at official Church teachings for anything that says I can’t think such, and there is nothing that says I can’t think such, so, well, I guess I am pretty optimistic about the whole thing.