TW - Not belonging with God Every time I talk about how I believe that the Jewish people belong with Jesus more than I do, people tell me they don't think so. Is that reassurance? When I talk to my aunt about it, she seems to think it is reassurance, and that it isn't good for my OCD to give me it, but she still tells me the things she said she believed was reassurance to this day.
On a side note (and I'm really not so concerned about this right now as I am with the question in the main post -- it's just a side question), even if it is OCD, and even if it is believed that I am overly obsessing and distressed about it, isn't there still an answer to if the Jewish people are more special to God and belong as Christians more? And isn't the answer that it's true? Setting aside the distress I would feel for hearing someone say that it is, isn't it really true?
I'm Jewish, and this is actually a rather complicated question because the belief system is a bit different. I don't want to give you reassurance on your actually inquiry, but here is our perspective on this: 1. We don't believe in the divinity of Jesus, so we don't have a concept of "belonging with Jesus", therefore our aspiration isn't to do so. 2. We believe we were chosen to receive God's laws (613 laws total) so we are expected to follow and uphold them. Those who are not Jewish are expected to follow the 7 laws of Noah to be considered richeous in the eyes of G-d. 3. Most of our beliefs about having a place in the world to come (afterlife) is based on actions, more than belief, so if you are a good person, you will eventually end up with G-d. We don't believe in eternal Heck.
There is a belief in a kind of purgatory, where the soul is purified and you reflect on your life actions. It is for Jews and non-Jews alike, and it can last anywhere from the time of passing to about 11 months. After that if you are not pure evil (think Stalin or Hitler), your pure soul goes to G-d.
Yeah, there are a lot of differences between Christianity and Judaism. But at the same time, Christianity is sort of a branch off of Judaism. The Old Testament is a compilation of several Jewish religious texts -- forgive me but I don't know the Jewish title of the same compilation of books, maybe you know what I'm talking about or you could look it up easy enough. I believe that Judaism also teaches in a coming Messiah, maybe not all sections of Judaism, but I could be wrong. Christianity believes that the Messiah of Judaism is Jesus, and that the Jewish people rejected Him and hung Him on a cross. Then, the news of the Messiah was to be taken to the Gentiles also, partly for the reason of making the Jewish people jealous to get them to turn to Jesus as well, as Christians believe that the laws are a schoolmaster for until the Messiah came, and that there is no law to bring righteousness but that the laws only condemn the unrighteous. I'm sorry if I got any of that wrong, but that's my understanding. Any of this should be easy enough to look up
@Anonymous Back to what I was saying. The Christian perspective is that Jesus was sent to pay for the sins of the world, for anyone who would follow Him, and the news of this is called the "gospel". The Christian perspective is that Jesus came first for the Jews, and also for the Gentiles -- meaning, Jesus's primary audience was Jewish, they are the people He wanted to reach and who the gospel was primarily meant for. Christians believe that it is Abraham's seed that the promises belong to, but that Gentiles can be grafted in now. And the Bible says that the Jewish people are the "natural branches" of Abraham's family while the Gentiles are "wild branches" that can be grafted into Abraham's family and so also see the promises that the Jewish people will see. What I am saying is that, Jesus was sent to the Jewish people foremost, He is the Jewish Messiah, and that the Jewish people are the natural branches of Abraham's descendants. The Gentiles did not receive the gospel until later, they weren't His primary target, and the Bible says that the Gentiles are grafted in "contrary to nature". So how could I think a Gentile could be at home as much or as special to God if they don't even belong, if Jesus chose them first and only came to the Gentiles when they rejected Him?
@Anonymous And I'm sorry if I came on a little strong at all..
@Anonymous Not at all. That's actually pretty interesting. I didn't know that.
@anonymous 88888888 Anyway, if you ask most Christians, they will say that the Jewish people are special, but God loves the Gentiles just as much. That just doesn't make sense to me. 🤷♂️ But of course I know you wouldn't know how to answer that. On a side note, in Jewish history God has always shown favor to the Jewish people
Don't obsess about the process of dealing with your OCD. Preaching to the choir here - I do it a lot. Do the right thing and don't engage with the question while you have a high level of anxiety about it.
Hi, so I’ve recently found out that asking for reassurance isn’t a good way to help OCD (that’s understandable), and I was wondering to what extent is reassurance bad? Eg, reassuring yourself that things will be okay, or that some of the things you obsess over are untrue and aren’t helpful things to think about? I probably sound a little stupid so apologies! I’m just unsure as to what is healthy and what is not! (Sorry if this is confusing, I have just splatted my thoughts down!)
Is this reassurance or research? So as a Christian I try to do what pleases God but I have OCD and it gots my vision so sometimes I want to look up stuff like for instance as a Christian should I make art or spend my time on something else like ministering to the homeless. If I looked up peoples opinions would that be seeking reassurance?
Why is reassurance bad for my obsessions? I was recently diagnosed and I have always felt better after reassurance. I have heard it is a compulsion but what other options do I have?
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