- Date posted
- 1y
is it okay..
is it okay to take a break from reading your bible once in a while? sometimes my ocd gets really bad and reading scriptures and verses sometimes make it worse. but i feel bad for not doing it.
is it okay to take a break from reading your bible once in a while? sometimes my ocd gets really bad and reading scriptures and verses sometimes make it worse. but i feel bad for not doing it.
Yes I would say so, it’s not healthy to have it feel so much like a chore with reading words getting too ritualistic which is not good for OCD at least in my case, this happens to me too and I feel like I’m reading it just to say I did and not get anything out of it. Try to let God guide you towards reading scriptures at the right time and discern things to take out of the Bible rather than just reading it as if you’re on autopilot is better to me. Taking a break would certainly help I’d say since the OCD is making you feel bad for not reading it but we have to break that feeling, as long as you don’t completely detach yourself from reading it altogether you should be fine. Hope this helps ❤️
@VictoriaCatherine#88 thank you!!
How come you steer away from reading? Do you have triggers to some words ? but also, sometimes steering away from something because your ocd makes you feel anxious from this certain thing, can sometimes make your ocd get worse in other area
Would it help to keep the routine of reading something reflectively, but read/do something else? Like reading religious poetry, a different liturgy that’s not the actual Bible (Kate Bowler has a lovely collection of prayers specifically for terrible times), or making reflective or religious art. I even saw a coloring book inspired by the psalms! At least for me, the part of regular religious practice that’s healing is setting aside time in my day to reflect and connect with something bigger than myself, but if reading the Bible every single day is not healthy for you, then I would not feel pressured to do that. Maybe you can take out time to do something else that rejuvenates you, even if it’s not directly religious
@RatDad thank you!
So I am a practicing Catholic, and I've gotten into reading the Bible this year, praying the Rosary, things like that, and while I love to do that, my OCD has been seeming to take over, in ways such as like I have to read the Bible for a certain amount of time before I'm satisfied with the time read, or something along those lines, and it's starting to make the thought of praying and reading the Bible unenjoyable, which is really hurting me inside, because I used to and want to enjoy it so bad, but now this is making it really hard to, because it feels like I don't have control over my own thoughts, and little things trigger the thoughts, it's just so annoying. If there's anything anyone thinks I can do to combat this please let me know.
how do I not treat God like a checklist I don’t want to do the bare minimum but then I feel like the more I try to spend time with him / in the word I will unhealthily obsess with how much time I should spend and if this or whatever the situation may be
I haven’t really been in my Bible lately cuz I just feel like when I read it like it’s to mark a box off and my ocd flare ups make it worse I don’t even want to read. I will read like a daily devotional or like a chapter but that’s like the bare minimum like it doesn’t even count so I don’t know what to do does that make me lukewarm I don’t want to backslide in my faith but I feel so far from God I mean I never really feel close either I just can’t even focus my brain is too loud.
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