To me a very important part of the Christian life is recognizing the weakness and utter depravity of the human condition. It is so easy to assume, and even taught among some of the branches of “Christianity”, that there exists some sort of “sinless perfectionism” among those who have truly been saved; the thought that once one becomes a “true” Christian that they will no longer sin or have desires for the evil things in the world. However, there could be nothing further from the truth (see Romans 7:13-25, 2 Corinthians 12, and Galatians 2:11-14), and this doctrine is surely a road that will lead to much stress in the life of a believer.
C.S. Lewis addressed this reality as well in his book The Screwtape Letters. This book is a continuing correspondance between two demons as they work on how to lead a new believer in the Enemy (aka God) down to a life serving “Our Father Below.” In chapter 9 (attached below) we see a letter going out about how to handle a Christian who is going through a down-time in their spiritual walk. I believe that texts like this can be of great comfort to a believer because they show us that the thoughts which Satan uses to attack our minds and make us doubt God’s presence in our lives are not a unique failing of our own, but are a systemic issue that all Christians must deal with at some point or another. Or, in short, when it comes to feelings of spiritual doubt, you are not alone.
