Hebrews 11:6. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Why do so many believers suffer from discouragement? It is because they merely attend church without truly believing. They cling to religion instead of the gospel. They hold on to legalism rather than experience the grace of God. Jesus warned about this:
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation” (Matthew 12:43–45).
When a person’s heart is not filled with Jesus as Lord and Savior, and instead tries to clean and organize life through religious efforts, the result is worse than before. Religious life without Christ invites even deeper despair. This is why believing in Jesus is more urgent than attending church. Yet even believing in Jesus is not enough; one must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13–20).
Jesus solved the three fundamental problems of mankind. As the True King, He destroyed the work of the devil (1 John 3:8). As the True Priest, He broke the curse of sin once and for all (Mark 10:45). As the True Prophet, He opened a new and living way to God (John 14:6).
When a person believes and receives Jesus as the Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within. The root of all problems is broken, leaving no room for discouragement to remain. The Spirit of God living in you ensures that nothing can destroy you (1 Corinthians 3:16). He will never leave you. He leads your life and grants you His peace (John 14:26–27).
The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth and tell you what is yet to come (John 16:13), fill you with power from above (Acts 1:8), and move in power through you and in you, answering your prayers (John 14:14). You have been given authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). God even commands His angels to minister to you, the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14).
You are a citizen of heaven, with full rights to live as one (Philippians 3:20). With everything you have and everything you do, you are called to testify to the gospel of Christ to all nations. And the Lord is with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:16–20).
Those who do not know the blessing of salvation cannot understand the meaning of true worship. They cannot taste the grace and blessing that flows through genuine worship. Trapped in religion, they strive to empty themselves, to clean up their lifestyle, to order their lives by human effort — unaware that without Christ, it is not the Holy Spirit at work, but the evil one. God’s heart longs for us to cast off the old clothes of religion and be clothed anew in Christ.
Discouragement is inevitable when one does not experience God (Hebrews 11:6). It signals either that a person has not received the Spirit of God or, if they have, that they are not following His guidance. The greatest obstacle to the leading of the Spirit is our own thoughts and stubbornness. Only by being filled with the Spirit can we overcome our self-centered thinking.
Without receiving and believing in Jesus as the Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit, no one can experience the living God. The way to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to hold firmly to the covenant and devote oneself to prayer (Acts 1:14).
Many remain trapped in despair and discouragement because they cannot escape the power of sin (Romans 3:23). But God, through Christ, has made a permanent change to your destiny. You are no longer a child of the devil but a child adopted into God’s family. The Spirit you have received assures you that you are a child of God (Romans 8:15–16).
When you feel discouraged by your own weaknesses, remember: God has changed your very state — from being a slave to sin to becoming a servant of righteousness. In the past, sin ruled your life. But now, you have been set free from sin and have become a servant of God, leading to holiness and eternal life (Romans 6:17–18, 22).
If you are still living in discouragement, still trapped in despair, remember: God did not call you to live in defeat. You are a child of the King. He watches over you with eyes like blazing fire. He is leading you to the ends of the earth to bear witness to His gospel. When the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, Jesus will return as He promised. So lift your eyes above your current circumstances and approach the throne of grace with boldness.
Fix your eyes on Jesus — the One who loved you and gave Himself for you — so that you will not grow weary or lose heart.
Prayer. Father, thank You for setting me free from despair and discouragement. Help me to fix my eyes on Christ, so that I may not grow weary or discouraged. In Jesus’ name, Amen.