What Should You Do When You Feel Defeated?

What is the most important thing you can tell a Christian who feels defeated? Although “we have the victory in Christ,” many times throughout our journeys we will feel defeated. Whether it’s because we are dealing with repetitive sin, spiritual warfare, hormonal imbalance, a relational conflict, or even a if you are dealing with physical pain, the most important thing to remember when you feel defeated is that you must never give up.   

Yes, we must remember that although we feel defeated, we are not defeated because we are in Christ. Our standing with God is based on Jesus. So although we may feel defeated, we will never actually and truly be defeated unless we give in to the feelings and really give up, turning our backs on Christ.

Christ secures our victory forever. Jesus defeated death, sin, and the devil through the power of the gospel. Satan’s only ploy left is to get us to turn back around and give up. So he tries to make us feel defeated even though we are not. If we accept his lie, this leads to a real defeat when we turn away from Jesus.

We live in a time where the war is won but the battles rage on. Therefore, if we simply keep believing, repenting of sin, and straining towards Christ and his will for us, we cannot end in defeat no matter how we feel. However, if we turn our back on Christ and simply give up, only then can we be defeated.

Eternal security is a biblical doctrine. The only unforgivable sin is the sin that we no longer repent of. I’m not saying that if we sin and forget that we sinned and thus never ask God to forgive us of that one specific sin we are then doomed to hell. No, Jesus died once for all of our sins (Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 3:18). However, repentance means to turn the other direction, to no longer go on sinning as we once did.

Therefore, the only sin that will not be forgiven is the sin that we turn from God for and never turn away from. If we do not repent of a sin and simply choose to live in it, never trying to escape its grasp, we are turning from saving grace. You cannot be reeled in by a lifeline you refuse to accept.

When this happens it does not mean someone has lost their salvation. Rather it means that they never had a true salvation to begin with (1 John 2:19). So when we feel defeated, we must remember to never give up. So when you run from God, always return to Christ. Colossians 1:21-23 explains:

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

Let us “not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” The victory is ours, we just have to finish the race.

So no matter how many times you fail, no matter how many times you are betrayed, no matter how many times you turn from God, no matter how many times life does not work out the way you had hoped, so matter how deeply you feel defeated, what is of the utmost importance is that you do not give up and you always turn back to God, seeking him above everything else.