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Help!!! Am I The Only One?

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SandyFla:
OK, please don't trash-n-bash me for this, but I'm wondering if anyone else experiences the same thing ...

I know that what churches teach about hell is wrong, but sometimes I still have the fear that maybe there IS an eternal hell with literal fire and brimstone. This usually happens when I'm not feeling well and thinking about dying, or late at night when everything is quiet.

When my grandmother was dying, she was terrified that she was going to hell because she left the Catholic faith and married a "Protestant devil," as they were called in those days. But just before she died, she reached out her hands and said, "Jesus ...," and she died peacefully.

Is it possible that, like her, the false teaching is so ingrained in my psyche that the fear automatically comes back, or do I subconsciously still believe in hell? Has anyone else struggled with this? If so, how long did it take for you to overcome it?

Sandy

love_magnified:
I struggled with it early on. It's called indoctrination. The human brain is like that. We humans are so habitual, as it was the wisdom of God to create us that way so that he could break our habits ;).

But the longer you believe in Christ, the more he works in you.

eutychus:
good word LM

and we have this:

1Jo 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love

1Jo 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

1Jo 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

1Jo 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.



love is was and will always be the answer.

peace
eutychus

SandyFla:
How long did it take you to get over the indoctrination and fear?

love_magnified:
The more I studied, and the more I just sat there and thought about what I knew to be true, the more the indoctrination withdrawal went away. I go through mini-renaissance moments where I would take a step back and see how God has no interest in eternal torture, and think, how could I have ever invested by energy and belief into that. Then other times my flesh would speak up and say (of course without truth, just emotion): "what if, what if." There is no what if: there is only God's plan. So eventually Jesus collapsed my flesh so that I could fully enjoy and partake of the gospel. It took a few months I'd say. That could never be a standard. It all depends.

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