- Username
- Myke G
- Date posted
- 5y ago
That's quite the pickle actually. You need to challenge the feeiling of guilt. Think of it this way, if you do it out of guilt then it kinda defeats the purpose. I aggre with Axolotl (fantastic username btw).
For me, when I feel that sense of anxious urgency, it’s a sure sign that OCD is involved...and I should probably stop or fight the compulsion. That said, it sounds like there’s also a personal relationship w your mom that’s complicating things, so I get why you’re feeling torn. If I were you, I’d take a deep breath and try to center myself. Ask: What do I want to do - and what do I feel compelled to do? Try to push back against the compulsion if that’s possible for you right now (not sure whether your mom understands the OCD situation). Whatever you decide, the fact that you’re so self-aware of your OCD tendencies is a really good thing!
Thanks so much for your responses and especially your advice axo...getting other people’s perspectives def helps.
God wouldn’t want you to go out of guilt or compulsion but only out of love and freedom. So choose what you freely want to do with no coercion from anyone else. If your love for God and/or tradition pulls you to Ash Wednesday, great! Go! But if it’s based on fear, why give way to that? God understands you have OCD and if you don’t go bc you don’t want to perform what feels like a compulsion, I think God will respect that 100%. But if you don’t go and then just feel that emptiness in your heart like you are missing out on community and connection and a special time with God, well then you’ll know to not skip out on the next opportunity. Sorry this is long input, but I’ve been there 1000s of time and this is how I finally found spiritual peace about religious compulsions.
Katla this is very helpful also, thanks so much for responding!
^ MikeG, you’re very welcome! Thanks for the feedback.
I’ve had the same thing happen to me with Ash Wednesday.
Sometimes I have thoughts that I would normally assume to be ocd, not sound like ocd. I start to think/feel that it's God telling me to do these things?? I then end up feeling guilty for not immediately implementing these things into my life. I hate that so much of what used to feel like ocd seems unclear. I don't feel like a good person. I know a lot of sermons aren't made with ocd in mind, but I feel like I'm not listening to God if I don't listen to thoughts I would've thought were ocd before
I am a Christian and I was wondering with religious OCD that if you give in to a compulsion does that mean you agree with the thought or actually want it?
After having a religious conversation with my mom I’m feeling quite triggered. She means well, it’s just I’ve avoided going to church ever since getting serious with my bf because every time I go I get this pit in my stomach and this horrible feeling that God is telling me to leave my relationship. But I don’t want to leave my relationship. So I can’t go to church, read the Bible or anything because it triggers this intense reaction and I end up believing I have to leave even though I love my boyfriend and really don’t want to. is anyone else struggling with this? And at the same time, I have so much guilt and feel so scared that I’m going to die because I haven’t been living a Catholic lifestyle and am afraid to die and go to hell. I don’t know but I’m so sad and lost:(
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