- Username
- faith_v_e
- Date posted
- 4y ago
I grew up in a church and I currently identify as agnostic. I 100% believe that even the most devout religious people have doubts and fears. I also stand strong in my convictions that it does not make you a bad person for questioning the existence of God. I question a lot of things about life (because it's so wonderful and there are so many things to learn! ?). Know that you are not alone and you are not your thoughts.
Thank you ❤️
@faith I have been dealing with the same doubts for almost my whole adult life, and I agree with hedgehogger that every else does too, we just don’t talk about it. A few years ago my ocd got ahold of the existence ofGod thing and whether God exists and whether I believe in God and what if I’m losing my faith. It’s been really shitty. I identify as a Christian, but the things I believe in have changed a lot. No one really knows whether God exists—if faith was that easy no one would have trouble believing. Mostly I now just think that God is so much bigger than I thought God could be. I can’t tell you or me definitively that God exists, but I am choosing to shape my life around the premise that he does, because doing so makes sense to me and brings me structure and foundation that I want and need. And I try to model the grace and love that Jesus showed to those around him. And that’s all I can do. I can’t force myself to believe anymore than I do, and faith will probably always be like sand in my gears. All I can do is hope. If you are a reader, I have found people like Nadia bolz-Weber, Richard rohr, Pete enns, and Frederick bruechner to be so helpful to me through this deconstruction. I see death and resurrection all around me, and the deepest hope of my being is that that is true in ways that I don’t even realize.
That’s a really great and helpful answer, thank you ?
Im going through the same thing. These past couple days ive been experiencing intrusive thoughts about leaving my faith because then I will be ''free". Ive also struggled with a variety of other doubts including the existence of God, and im a very active believer, trying to live out my Christianity so this is all very hard. I have a journal where ive written down evidences for my faith, including blessings or things that have happened in ny life that I attribute to God, but I know that can easily lead to reassurance.
That’s a good idea! I’m just scared to get into thinking about it too much and documenting it, etc because then I feel like I’m being compulsive
@faith_v_e Yeah, its hard to navigate. I started doing that before I realized it was OCD so I would recommend seeking professional help.
The worst thing is that you start to doubt yourself and lose touch with what you yourself actually believe, feeding the anxiety and feeling of being stuck. I experience relationship ocd as well so I try to remember that when I doubt that it is OCD.
God wants you to question. If you do not question, you would only be a follower, not a believer. Religion is the search for truth, so do not be afraid. God has always been inside you and will always be there to guide you through. Even when u can't feel him there.
❤️
Hi everyone, I’ve been struggling lately with something I never have before- doubting my Christian Faith. I’ve struggled with religious OCD for a while now so I guess it makes sense that this would eventually happen, but it’s still super difficult. I spent the past couple of days constantly google searching evidence for God, Jesus being God, why the Bible is true, etc., but every time I find something that makes me feel better, I keep looking and find someone who doesn’t believe in God arguing against the point that was made. I talked with my therapist today and I’m working on cutting down the compulsive googling, however I’m struggling with the thoughts still being stuck in my head that say I don’t actually believe in God and that it’s just something I’m telling myself. I’m mostly scared that if I don’t keep on reminding myself why I believe in God, I will eventually stop believing. If anyone is currently struggling with this or has overcome it and has any advice or stories of hope, I would greatly appreciate it.
Losing my faith in God has made this that much harder. I’m not talking about praying as a compulsion. But I used to have strong faith and that made any anxiety or issues I had that much easier because I could just give it to God. Lately I’ve had so many questions and am barely hanging on by a thread. I used to be a youth pastor and now I feel like there’s no hope. Then throw on my newly developed OCD now the problems are compounded and I just don’t even feel like getting out of bed anymore. I’m just so sad but have a wife and kid I need to be present for. I’ve never gone through anything like this in my life, why now when I’m needed most by my family?
I know ocd is great at this i just want to share my story, hope someone can help me here. At first i want to say i know faith isnt about feelings, that you always feel that God is here with you, but its been weeks now that ive been struggling to feel His presents. I choose to think He is here with me but its been hard now, sometimes something happens and i say look here was God, but through the day i dont feel that feeling what i used to feel before, idk it was really comforting and gave me confidence and i could be myself around people, now i struggle feeling this. And i dont know if the problem is that i want to experience that feeling again. I just know when i was there it wasnt everything pink and sparkle and i was levitating in the sky, no i still experienced hardships, but i was able to go through them with a clear mind,.soberly, and i actually learned things, but now i just feel im going around... and ive been questioning whats the problem, why i dont feel God presence. I tried to see if i feel unloveble, or if theres something im struggling to relate, i found that im hard on myself sometimes, but i do use that method to respond kindly when im so hard with myself, but i get angry and i started to hate that when i start to be kind. Anyone can help me about that? Its that normal, part of recovery, cause im feeling bad about myself that when i want to be kind to myself i hate that, i hate that tone, cause its like i want to make myself happy with fake posivity, even wheb i say "is all right, youre loved" i just cringe cause i get angry and like its not solving the problem... so am o have to accept i will react to that now with anger? It even got to a point where i questioned do i really believe in God, cause i dont feel like it... so i think this relating can be the problem but idk how to change that, i even feel bad about feeling anger when i try to be kind with myself. Its not that i blame myself, its more that i feel like im avoiding learning to be better with this fake positivity, cause what i experienced in my life, the people who used this "its okay everyone has bad habits, we are humans" it used as an apology for their actions, like and avoidance, maybe they felt bad about it, but i didnt see work on trying to change that bad to a good thing, it was just moving on. So now when i hear "God still loves me" it triggers this in me, and i feel like i do the same and im not trying to learn, i just use fake positivity to feel better about myself. Idk if this is why the anger comes up but this is the story i have. I should work on being more kind to myself but what to do with the resistance and the feeling that i just use fake positivity to get out of shame and realizing the problem.
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