When writing from your character's view point, you should never give them your mindset unless of course they have the same level of maturity as you do. If you do, you'll come across as unrealistic. For example suppose you believe that premarital sex is wrong and your character has only been a Christian for a week. You can't expect them to think: "Now that I'm a Christian, I guess having sex with my boyfriend is out of the question." For one thing, they still have fleshly desires. All new Christians do not come with biblical doctrine ingrained in them. It is something learned and taught. I was talking with a friend, and even she agreed that you have to be led of the spirit or convicted not to have sex with your boyfriend. Now if your Character has matured in her faith, then yes, they should have the same mindset. They've been going to church, Bible Studies, hanging around godly friends and of course a personal time of devotion and Bible reading. I believe that if a person knows a certain action is wrong and acts on it then they are held accountable. You can't hold them accountable if they are ignorant. The Apostle Paul wrote that he acted ignorantly in unbelief yet God had mercy on him. What is
ignorance? The word ignorantly comes from the Greek word agnoia. It means want of knowledge or perception,
Unbelief is not believing something is true.
So when a newborn Christian continues to sin and she doesn't have that conviction then she is a doing it ignorantly in unbelief. Until she comes to the knowledge of the truth, or until someone tells her and gently restores her (Gal 6:1) she will continue to do so. The same with fictional characters. I know personally, it's hard for me to read about Christians swearing or acting as if they are still in their sins, but I have to remember that they may not have the same spiritual beliefs as I do. We have to remember that the characters are not us. Now if I write a memoir or an autobiography and I say "I continue to steal from my parents even though I know it;s wrong." You may ask "Then why do you do it if you know it's wrong?" Kind of like if I post on my Facebook wall promoting illegal drinking or if I comment on something negative like a post against human trafficking and I give it my approval, then I would understand you questioning why I approve such things. But what I write what my characters do or say is altogether different.
