Psychological Paralysis

[Michael19682]

Is a misunderstanding of one’s personal cross a cause of psychological paralysis?
I.e., I have to suffer this situation – not because I can’t change it – but because it is my purpose to suffer in it. What is the difference between accepting one’s cross and inviting one’s own misery (even if for the sake of God). E.g. a person obviously angry and intent on harming you makes a threat that he will take back only if you deny god. You deny, the person is then taken away…now what? You just know that if you said, “NO! God is true!” you would have been harmed greatly.

I need an answer to this question for personal reasons.

 

[Iron_Donkey]

You should do what is right. Within what is right, you should do the best you can for others and yourself. It is morally praiseworthy, and at times morally necessary, to accept additional suffering yourself for the sake of others - again, within the bounds of doing what is right.

There is no problem in doing morally legitimate things to reduce your suffering. But morally illegitimate things such as denying God are not permitted at all whether they reduce your suffering or not.

The crosses we carry are those sufferings we cannot morally avoid and those additional hardships we take on for the good of others (and/or the ultimate good of ourselves or out of love of God, etc.). If standing up for the truth causes harm to ourselves, then that is our cross. We need not go out of our way to put ourselves in situations (though sometimes it can be good) where declaring our faith will lead to harm, but should we find ourselves in such a place we must not deny Christ.