Let yourself feel.
3. Dying to the wrong things
Scripture calls us to “come and die” when we trust in Christ for salvation and follow after him. This is a difficult command to follow for most of us because we’re unwilling to die to our sin and selfishness.
For others of us, this command is difficult to follow because we’re willing to “come and die” but we die to the wrong things.
“God never calls us to annihilate the self,” Scazzero says. We aren’t supposed to die to that which is good, but that which is not of God and hinders us from Christlikeness.
4. Denying the past’s impact on the present
It’s so easy to assume that your past is simply dead and gone, having no impact on you or what you’re looking to do in the future.
Assuming this is harmful to your emotional and spiritual health.
Not everyone can afford counseling, and some Christians wrongly think counseling is only for people in dire situations.
But if you see a counselor to talk through any emotional or spiritual issues you may have, you will quickly learn how impactful your past is on your present.
5. Dividing our lives into “secular” and “sacred” compartments
I learned a lot about this symptom of emotionally unhealthy spirituality when I was in college. I had always assumed Christian work and ministry were reserved for church leaders, and the rest of us were just supposed to do what they told us to do.
Church leaders do not do all of the ministry, they equip others to do ministry. No matter our field of work or study, we are called via the Great Commission and the rest of the Scriptures to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with a world in need.
6. Doing for God instead of being with God
This symptom is similar to the first, but a little different.
It can look holy and spiritual to be constantly busy, trying to serve God with all we have. Serving God and his people is good and important, but not if we’re doing it in hopes of gaining approval.
When we get to a place of spiritual or emotional weakness, we have a tendency to perform in hopes of proving our worth to God or others. This is debilitating and ultimately ineffective.
God approves of us because of what Jesus has already done for us, not for what we will do for him today.
7. Spiritualizing away conflict
Too many of us sweep conflict under the rug. We do it for different reasons.
Some of us avoid conflict because it’s just annoying to work through it.
