The Spiritual Root of Double-Mindedness – How to Stop It and Start Living Boldly in Faith
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What does it mean to be double-minded and what causes us to experience it? Knowing what the spiritual root of double-mindedness is and how to stop it in its tracks can help you begin living without fear and standing firmly rooted in the Word!
But this begins with really facing what causes this to happen in your life and in your faith! What makes a person double-minded and what does the Bible say about it? You might be surprised by what it could mean in your own life!
Read on to learn more about it and how to live boldly in your faith!
Learning the Spiritual Root of Double-Mindedness: First, Define It
I was reading a verse in the Book of James about being double-minded that really hit home with me late last week. It was this verse:
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:8 NASB
The phrase “double-minded” comes from the Greek word “dipsychos” and it means uncertain, doubting. It also means divided in interest.
It means that you are wavering and divided between two interests.
Divided in interest.
Yeah, that hit me pretty hard, I will be honest. I had to face some truths about myself right here.
Have you ever posted something on Facebook and set the permissions so only certain people can see it?
Have you ever posted something on Facebook and set the permissions so only certain people can see it? Click To TweetOn Social Media
Guilty! I have done that many a time, and sometimes it is for good reason.
Sometimes it’s just because it only pertains to certain people so I don’t want to bog down people’s newsfeeds with something that only interests a few, like maybe a family-related post.
Or maybe it is super personal that I only want close friends and family to see. Those are all pretty good reasons.
But that wasn’t what bothered me.
What bothered me were the other posts I set permissions on.
I might post something related to my faith and set it for a certain audience because I didn’t want people to label me or judge me for my beliefs.
I didn’t want to be judged by people who might have a wrong perception of what faith in Christ is truly about or what I represent.
Then There Was the Opposite
The funny memes or off-color posts I might think are funny so I share them but hide them from my Christian friends because I don’t want them to think I am acting in a way that is ungodly.
They weren’t BAD or anything most people would find offensive. I DO live my walk as much as possible! I just thought people might be too harsh and judge me for it. I didn’t trust people not to judge!
The makeup and fashion I love so much, I hid from my Christian friends because I feared being labeled as caring about “worldly things”.
But loving those things is NOT wrong! Making an idol out of them is wrong! Finding your worth in them is wrong.
But enjoying those things (and oh, I do) is not wrong! Enjoying them for fun is not wrong! And if anyone were to judge me for it, the issue is more with them than me!
Fear of Being Judged
Basically, the spiritual root of double-mindedness for me was fear.
I was fearing the judgment of man. So I compromised. I was being double-minded.
I was portraying one “me” to one group and the other “me” to the other group and NEITHER me was bad nor wrong!!
That is the odd thing about it. I don’t post anything that is ungodly or fanatical!! I was worried about someone’s perception of me versus the reality of me.
So, I tried to be one person to one group and another person to the other and the truth was somewhere in the middle.
My interests were divided. I had one set for one and another for the other!
Basically, I was fearing the judgment of man. So I compromised. I was being double-minded. Click To TweetThis is Who I Am
If my friends dislike me because of my faith then I don’t need those friends. Period! It sounds harsh but it is true!
My faith is who I am. If you love me as my friend, then you love me BECAUSE of my faith because that is what shapes the person I am.
If my Christian friends dislike me for my weird humor or my love of fashion or my loud-mouthed NY attitude, that’s more their issue than mine.
God didn’t make us all alike and there’s a good reason for that! We balance out the church that way!
Romans 12:4-5 says:
“For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.“
NASB
We weren’t made the same! Our toes and fingers have different functions and offer different benefits, but they are all part of the same body.
Getting at the Spiritual Root of Double-Mindedness Requires Trust
It really all came down to a lack of trust.
I didn’t trust my Christian friends with the weird, crazy side of me and I didn’t trust my non-Christian friends with the part that is truly ALL of me; the Christian.
I was literally living like a split personality and in the end, no one knew the real me; the WHOLE me.
I wasn’t being fake. After all, each was truly a part of who I am. But I wasn’t being real either.
The spiritual root of double-mindedness is fear and lack of trust and even a certain degree of comparison that is planted in us by the enemy so that we are not living with boldness and faith.
We are, instead, living in an unstable way.
I was literally living like a split personality and in the end, no one knew the real me; the WHOLE me. Click To TweetStop Being Double-Minded by Living Boldly
James 1:6-8 says that a double-minded man is:
“But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
NASB
How could I ever go to God and ask for anything if I live in doubt and am divided in my interests? If I am blown and tossed by the winds of opinion or judgment of people, how can I ever expect God to trust me with what I am praying for?
So, I decided to live boldly.
Boldly in my faith and boldly in my humor! I have decided to be the authentic ME! Take me or leave me but at least it will be the REAL me you’re getting! And what God thinks of me and who He made me be is far more important.
Living boldly and living authentically!
If I don’t feel comfortable enough to share a post with my Christian friends, then maybe I shouldn’t be posting it!!
And if I don’t feel comfortable posting something for my non-Christian friends to see, then I need to re-examine my heart and whether I am trying to please God or man!
So how do you stop being double-minded? Live to please God not people! Look at all you do through the lens of the Word and not the lens of friends or family.
Look at the opinion of God, not the opinions of friends on Facebook. And if you are pleasing God, then that is all that matters!
If you’ve ever experienced this fear of judgment or fear of losing popularity, comment below and let me know how you stepped out boldly yourself!
NASB – “Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation“
Wow… Bea’s comment has left me in awe. Made me almost gasp because to just even speak of the pain and releasing being honest of the just those things she has gone through. I remember Gid saying in book of 1 John that Jesus blood cleanses me from all sin as I confess and come into His light / truth. It is ok to come to Father God and be honest about what happened. Learning to exchange my thoughts for those that are better, purer, good, holy, right is definitely a daily walk. It’s not a one time adjustment or alignment. I have been so double minded all my life always performing to just to be accepted because of severe rejection and abuse as a child. Emotions at times takes control. But Jesus did not come to find fault or condemn but to set free even in those places of pain, fear, shame, guilt that leads to double mindedness. Identity was not foundational where I was to put my trust and in who I was to trust. Living in two worlds is confusing and when trying to figure out with a child mind with no adult supervision or those who care, yep… you trust no one but at same time longing to be included or apart. Chains in the mind and bondage… in spirit, soul, and body (sickness). But thank you Jesus He is the Hope!!! He gives the faith to believe. And God is the one who puts us in Christ which no one can take out of His hands. I think it’s in Philippians God says He is the one that does the works in us to will and to do so we can act. What he started in His calling us to Himself… He is strongest enough to finish. For His Grace… empowering presence His holy influence on our hearts cries out to Him… Father!!!! And this is the place I am right now. Thank you fir all of your sharings. It’s in the sharing of the power of God that the body of Jesus grows to together. Loving 🥰 this new journey of knowing Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Jesus said it is finished. So everything we need, He has the supply willing to give. His character His attributes His fruits are who He is. And His thoughts about us are always good because of Jesus. Now it’s in the learning of taking His hand and sitting sr His feet to soak in His love that what He says is true. Ps. 139. He’s there in the places we have been or are hiding. We cannot run from His presence. He us not ashamed of us. The cross of Christ of Christ care of all of that. Our starting point is the cross. Death, burial, RESURRECTION! This is still all new to me and I am still putting into practice the truth of what is revealed or unveil by His Holy Spirit who teaches us. But I am also learning that we are to talk about Gods goodness, grace, and mercy. It helps with renewing our minds that more trust and faith and boldness and identity can come in so to shine out. 🥰. I looked up word Shalom so this is what I say to each person who reads this. God bless you with the unspeakable joy that only comes from Him. Father God gives the most perfect gifts 🎁
Selah!
Thank you so much for sharing this and for your great encouragement for Bea! What a blessing!
I’m Juan Pablo, I’m 19 at the moment, I’ll be 20 years of age in July, and since there’s internet these days it’s a little easier to socialize with other people like me, I mean, it’s scary for me sometimes to say what will happen because something I’ve learned is that life does change, different stuff happens that in my experience did not know it could interfere with what my plan is, but the truth is, I don’t have a plan, I daydream a lot, but I don’t have a plan because I don’t just do not know, it’s frustrating knowing all the crazy stuff that people do today that sometimes it wants to draw me in, but it’s wrong, that’s what I tell myself, anyway, God is real, Jesus of Nazareth is real, I’ve recently just learned that it’s Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene, the point is, the definition of Jesus is literally Salvation.
Juan it is very easy with the internet to get sucked into things that we should stay far from and even people who could lead us down the wrong path but it sounds as though you know the answer. Yes, Jesus’s Name in Hebrew, Yeshua, is from the word yeshuah which literally means salvation. He is the One to turn to when you feel overwhelmed or pulled in. Turn to the Word and you can always reach out for prayer as well. I have a chat function here on the site and you can message when you are having a difficult time and ask for prayer! You are young and God can use you in such amazing ways to reach other young people who struggle with the same things!