Loneliness
In many ways, we all face loneliness daily. As humans, we are all going through the motions of life, shaping it to be our own. We have many people around us, but they are also shaping their own lives their own ways. In this way, to be human is to be selfish. And our selfishness makes ourselves and others lonely. It’s a vicious cycle.
Who Loneliness Affects
The Single Person
We have all been single at some point. Many of you may be single right now. Humans are social creatures and we all seek for someone special in our lives. If you want a significant other but struggle finding someone you match with, you can become very lonely. The same can be said if you have just gone through a bad break-up or divorce.
The Unappreciated Person
Sometimes we go through phases in our lives where we just aren’t appreciated. It can be our spouse, our family, our friends … anyone close to us. But if you find yourself feeling unappreciated, ignored, or undervalued, you can become lonely quickly. This can be even worse if it’s your spouse or significant other giving you the cold shoulder or being straight-up mean.
The Survivor
Almost everyone will be a survivor at some point. You will probably outlive your parents. There’s also the possibility that you could outlive your spouse or a child. Many of you may be going through this right now. Loneliness and loss are siblings; where one is, the other usually follows.
The Insecure Person
If you do not feel secure in yourself or love yourself, you cannot feel full in life. This emptiness usually comes with loneliness, and often, depression.
Many Others
You may not fall into any of the groups above, or you may fall into multiple. Either way, loneliness is commonplace. It also doesn’t always make sense because people who “shouldn’t feel lonely” according to society still do.
The Truths About Loneliness
Loneliness is normal. If you are feeling lonely, do not feel like something is wrong. As humans, we are not meant to be happy on earth, neither externally nor internally. We may be happy and feel peaceful when good things happen, but we will never feel 100% so long as we live. There will always be some small part of us that feels lonely, sad, empty, etc.
While loneliness is normal, we need to see it for what it is: an affliction put on us by Satan. It is a lie; a mirage put in our way to confuse us and lead us astray. When we feel lonely, the likelihood that we will do something bad increases. We get desperate and start clawing for ways out of how we feel. This single negative emotion can snowball into many negative emotions, such as depression and self-deprecation. And it can lead to bad habits (addictions), such as doing drugs, having casual sex, and over-eating.
We cannot overcome this feeling of loneliness by seeking out relationships and chasing empty feelings. Calling your ex up after a breakup just to have someone to spend time with will not make you happy. Actually, it will probably make you feel worse about yourself, especially if you keep making the same mistakes time and again.
How to Overcome Loneliness
Jesus Christ is our pathway to fulfillment in all facets of our lives. This includes loneliness. We must put our love and faith with Him and we will find the peace and fulfillment that will overcome any loneliness. Our new life will begin after the final judgment.
In the meantime, we should interact with other humans and be social. God teaches us that it isn’t good for humans to be alone (Genesis 2:18). God also teaches that we are stronger in groups than by ourselves (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). But it isn’t enough to put ourselves around just anyone. If we are to overcome our loneliness, we must put ourselves with people of a holy mindset, people like-minded to us (2 Corinthians 6:14).
We should also get to know ourselves very well. God has given us unique talents and strengths and unique interests. And He wants us to use these in order to fulfill His plan by speaking His Word to the world. We must communicate with God, examine His teachings, and prepare for God’s tests in our life, of which loneliness is one.
Lastly, we need to stay busy and be resolute in our decision to follow God, as idle hands do bad things. And we need to pray. If we pray and believe that we have received it, then we will (Mark 11:24).
Other Similar Struggles
Loneliness is one of many linked struggles we go through. If you find yourself facing depression, you can read our article about how to deal with depression as a Christian here. Also, if you find yourself having thoughts of suicide, you can read our article about what the Bible says about suicide here.
