Originally Posted by
numb
Hi this is a great thread! Im a Methodist (Christian), my younger sister got really got to me the other day, she said "please stop self harming Sarah, we were told in R.E at school that self harming is a sin and you wont get to heaven, so please stop." It brought a tear to my eyel! Do you think its true? So far I havent stopped.
XXXX
tough question... For a long time I brushed it off, decided it didn't matter because it's not explicitly mentioned in the bible [for the record, cutting is mentioned. it says "do not cut yourselves for the dead" and there's a story about a demon posessed man cutting himself, and a story about pagans cutting themselves to attract their god, but I mean that it doesn't deal with habitual self-harm as an addiction like we see it today]
My conscience always told me it was wrong, but I ignored it and ran farther away from God... Over the summer a friend helped me to see this...
I was relying on my SI for relief, safety, and happiness... I had all but made my [sharp object] a god... So that's idolatry. Anything we put before God in our hearts is an idol.
And I came across this... "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple." [1 Cor. 3:17] God loves us and wants what's best for us, so He protects us from anyone who harms us... even ourselves. I don't think it means that God will destroy us [self-injurers], but I think he breaks our hearts so that we come running back to him. [brokenness can be a
beautiful thing!]
God has shown that he will do whatever it takes to reclaim his precious creation, even to the point of sacrificing his only son, so although it hurts him to see us hurt, sometimes the only way he can get our attention is through a crisis... [e.g. everyone is telling you you're a bad driver, but you don't believe them; you just keep going your own way until you get into a crash] and Paul said to delight in our suffering, because only when we are truly broken and weak can we fully accept Christ's power and be made strong.
Anyways, I don't believe that you can lose your salvation.
All you have to do is ask for forgiveness... He will always be right there waiting to scoop you up in his arms again...
[.... and now i personally feel very convicted... so I'm gonna spend some much need time with god
]
you can definitely pm me if you wanna talk more