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OCD is an opportunist! Questioning your faith is a normal human thing to do. We question everything all the time. Your OCD is latching onto that because it knows it obviously means a lot to you and will cause you distress. An all powerful God wouldn’t want his creation to feel so guilt and distress on questioning his existence, that’s your OCD. Do your best to fight back against your religious OCD with your prevention messages! You’re going to be ok, best of luck!
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@darlyn My perspective is less OCD based and more religious based. You’re worried about sinning, and honestly sounds like you’re punishing yourself more than God would. God is loving and forgiving. You need to understand when the guilt of sinning is from your OCD. Also, questioning your faith is ok! Don’t stress yourself out over that thought.
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I have experienced everything you mentioned in your post, and I wish I could give you a hug! Religious OCD is one of the most debilitating and something I have struggled with my entire life. I am a natural skeptic and so faith has never come easily to me and I’ve struggled a lot when my OCD would make me doubt my beliefs or make me question my salvation. At 28 years old I still struggle with this but the flares aren’t as debilitating now. Over the years I have pressed into my fears, doubts and intrusive thoughts that make me feel like a terrible sinner, and brought them all to the foot of the cross. The more I’ve gotten to know God’s character, the more at peace I feel bringing Him the weight of my obsessions. He knows exactly what you’re going through, nothing you think is a surprise to Him. He knows our OCD brains play tricks on us and cause us to stumble, but He is there to pick us up every time. He knows your heart and knows you love Him, and that’s all that matters. Remember that when Jesus died in the cross for you, He covered your past, current and future sins. He loves you and doesn’t want you to fight this battle alone! Keep pressing into Him and don’t let go of His hand. Like peter walking in the water, just keep your eyes focused on the Lord. 🫶🏼
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@anxiouslyhopeful Another thing from your post to remember - just because your thoughts tell you something is a sin doesn’t mean it is. At the same time, even if your intrusive thoughts are something of a “sinful nature”, it’s not your fault for thinking it. Something I try to practice to help with this is immediately praying when I get the thought, even if it’s 500 times a day. Sometimes I just pray one single word to God immediately following a thought, like “Peace!” or “Help, Lord!” In my heart I’m telling God to replace that anxious thought with peace. He knows what we mean. By doing this i’m trying to practice 2 Corinthians 10:5 - “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Christ has all authority and He alone can send those lying thoughts of ours as far as the east is from the west.
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@darlyn He forgives you! But doubt isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It can be scary and frustrating to experience doubt but doubt can actually be the thing that helps strengthen our faith. Doubt has been the thing that keeps me depending on the Lord. Doubt has also been the thing that has sparked curiosity and the search for answers that eventually strengthen my faith! Once we learn to accept doubt as apart of our faith journey it becomes easier to live with.
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I’m back with some resources! These are just a few off the top of my head. - The Bible app from YouVersion in the app store - The Bible Recap with Tara-Leigh Cobble (this is also a free plan on the bible app. She goes in depth explaining the Bible in a few chapters at a time.) - Any reading plan on the Bible app that include themes for anxiety, stress or doubt. One example is “Winning the War In Your Mind” plan by Craig Groeschel - Embraced: 100 Devotions to Know God is Holding You Close by Lysa TerKeurst (this can be found on amazon!) - Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen - Any devotion by The Daily Grace Co website Even reading tiny bite size pieces of scripture can make a huge difference. Another thing that really helps calm me down during a spiral is the Hidden In My Heart album by scripture lullabies. Be still and know is my favorite song! If you can’t read scripture due to the stress, this album sings it to you in the most calming way.
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Dont give up!!! There are so many people that struggle with the exact same issues you have. I am one of those people. I have had OCD for as long as I can remember, and most of it was in the form of scrupulosity - and I'm in my 40s now. If you are worried about explaining OCD to your family, hopefully all the online resources will help validate this issue as real to them, and not something you struggle with all by yourself. I STRONGLY SUGGEST looking up Mark DeJesus. These 2 links are a great place to start: https://markdejesus.com/scrupulosity-religious-ocd-resource-page/ https://markdejesus.com/ocdhelp/ God has really gifted him with the ability to speak truth to Christians with OCD. Also, there are other Christians with this disorder. One of them is a psychiatrist who has written several books on the issue. One of the coolest ones is where he talks about 3 major figures in Christian Church history and how they likely had OCD (there just wasn't a word for it yet back then). He even writes about how God used their OCD to change the course of history. His name is Dr. Ian Osborn. His website is OCDandChristianity.com Last but not least, Jaimie Eckert is a great resource for those with scrupulosity. Her website is scrupulosity.com - and she has lots of youtube videos and shorts that I find to be very helpful. She is also a Christian. As an FYI - God has taught me a lot about fighting OCD along the way, and I published a book about all he has taught me (see more at WagingWarAgainstOCD.com). Also, if interested - you can also listen to an interview I did with Jaimie at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdR5QS_Hsok I hope these help! PS - DONT fell guilty for your thoughts. They are not your own....that is why they are called intrusive, b/c they intrude on your mind and are bothersome. They are what psychiatry calls ego-dystonic, or not of your own will.
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@darlyn Tell your family! A huge weight will be lifted off your shoulders when you finally realize you’re not facing this alone. It might take some time to learn about OCD if they’re unfamiliar with it, but it makes a huge difference when you have a support system to help you work through this. I also encourage you to reach out to a christian counselor or mentor in your area if you can find one - specifically someone who understands OCD. I’m new to this app but noticed you can find counselors on here too that are christians who can help you work through this. 🫶🏼
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@darlyn I would say find some useful articles online (or even on this app if they have them) that explain OCD, especially religious OCD, that they can look at. ☺️ You’re definitely not crazy! There’s more of us out there than we realize.
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@darlyn You’re not a horrible person. Remember that Jesus felt EVERYTHING we feel when He was on the cross for us. I have felt the same way many times about fearing that I’m losing my faith. My counselor always tells me that those who fear losing their faith aren’t usually the ones that do. Get a prayer journal and write out your honest fears and worries to the Lord! Even when you don’t know if you believe it, keep doing it and He will be found by you. Also, try to read the Bible for encouragement, or even short daily devotional. I’m at work right now but I will set a reminder to reply back to this post later today with some resources and books that have helped me!
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@darlyn Honestly, I’d be happy to send you one! Or download the Bible app. It’s a free app that has the entire bible on it, plus different reading plans and devotional. Or if you have a local church near you, I am sure any one of them would give you one as well!
Related posts
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- 11w
Hi everyone. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for dealing with religious OCD. I'm a Christian and I struggle with Harm OCD but then somehow, my religious beliefs got mixed into this where I am suddenly asking all these questions on whether God/Jesus is even good. And as a result, I feel so distant from my faith which makes dealing with my harm OCD so much harder 😢 Any advice would be appreciated.
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Hello, This is my first community post and I would like to know if anyone else struggles with Religious OCD themes, I'm a Christian but please share any perspective you have. - What do your thoughts look like? - How do you know they are related to OCD? For me it's becoming a constant, 24/7 cycle and it's very draining. I want to find some kind of peace between my thoughts and God so I recently started NOCD therapy again. I'm not totally sure how this all works (treatment, OCD diagnosis, etc.). But if anything I want to know that I am not alone with Religious OCD. Thank you
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I get the constant wave of sadness that ocd has taken my life from me. I can't share my thoughts and they don't feel like mine. I have episodes where I think God must hate me or see some secret sin in me that I don't see, or else I really really am missing when the holy spirit is saying to me. I want to be free so so deeply and have a normal, independent and fruitful life but God is not answering me. Why do I have these thoughts? Are they spiritual or just my mind? If anyone with Religious ocd can help or share how they navigate a true relationship with Christ while having ocd, I would really appreciate it. For context, I've had dozens of people pray over me and I've literally screamed like a child for God to give the answer, I had faith-based ocd even before i understood the gospel or personally knew Jesus. I want to live with eternity in mind and be free from these things so so much. Thank you!
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