Day 10 Christmas Reading: Christian Hope

Should the mind of a Christian be sounder than that of a non-believer? Or was Freud right when he viewed all relition as a form of neurosis - a crutch that insecure neurotic people have to support their mental frame of reference?

Paul wrote to Timothy: “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV). God has a “psychiatry” born of faith that gives the Christian a sounder mind than one who has no faith.

Many contemporary psychiatrists - unlike Sigmund Freud - recognize the importance of faith and trust in God. Dr. Paul Dubois, a psychotherapist, is one. “Religious faith is the best preventative against the maladies of the soul, mind, and body, and is the most powerful medicine we have ever discovered for curing them.”

First, Christian faith produces a sound mind because it deals with guilt. The central core of Christian teaching is that Jesus died for the sins of mankind and that by accepting Him as personal Lord and Savior, God accepts His sacrifice in place of ours. The end result is forgiveness.

Ultimately, God is the only one who can forgive sin and it was for that reasons God sent His Son to die in our stead.

Second, Christianity brings an alternative to the disappointments of life, which drive people to the edge. A relationship with God through Jesus Christ offers the alternative: The assurance that God has a plan for your life and will guide you in the circumstances of life.

Finally, Christianity offers a lifestyle and a soundness of mind that eliminate the great overriding fear of death. The Christian believes that death is the gateway to the presence of God and therefore is not to be feared.

Some fear death because they consider life after death in non-existent terms of inactivity; yet to those who trust Him, Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you and - where I am, there you may be also.”

This is an excerpt from Guidelines for Living by Harold Sala, now available at OMF Lit and Passages Bookshops, PCBS, and our online store, passagesbooks.com for only P395.

You ask these questions because life can be hard. The daily grind sucks the air out of your lungs and erases the smile from your face. You feel nothing more than like a spent battery by the end of the day.

Carve some time out of every day to read God’s Word and pray. Join Dr. Harold J. Sala in this compilation of his best devotional entries on faith, hope, and love. Culled from his bestselling books published through the years, these 365 days of reflections will help inspire you to make it through your darkest hours and toughest days.

Yes, you can trust God. Better days will come. 
You can learn to truly love. 
After all, three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love.