OCD and Christianity
OCDers spend a lot of time hoping. What they hope for is that their obsessional fears are not realized. Take the example (not uncommon) of a new and loving mother with the gut wrenching obsession that she is a pedophile and wants to molest her baby. She has an image in her mind of doing […]
Martin Luther, in his sermons and writings, often dwelled on the importance of fully recognizing God’s power over everything that happens, including over all the sufferings that befall us. For instance, in Luther’s commentary on the sixth Psalm, he begins with this statement: “In all trials and affliction man should first of all run to […]
Consider the OCDer who wouldn’t commit a sin for the world. Every day, she spends hours and hours attempting to make sure that she doesn’t. An unbidden thought enters her mind: She is “gay.” In her mind’s eye, she sees herself touching another woman. Terrified, at that moment she thinks that the most important thing […]
Suppose you have a thought that is heart-stopping blasphemous, maybe an image of yourself stabbing a loved one, an urge to desecrate a picture of Jesus, or an idea that you are a sexual pedophile. Shocks of anxiety surge through your whole body. You try to shove it out of your mind, but you can’t. […]
“Learn to say ‘Away with you devil, you compel me to care for myself, when God everywhere says -I care for you; depend upon me.” –Martin Luther Martin Luther gave this advice to a member of his congregation who suffered from what we would now call OCD. Luther knew firsthand about the agony of tormenting […]
Matthew 10:16: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” All those who suffer from OCD have the feeling at times that they are sheep among wolves. Obsessions circle around and come from every angle, attacking relentlessly. People with more severe cases of […]
One of the great mysteries of our faith is the division of responsibility between God and man for all that happens. We know that God controls everything, from the movement of the tiniest atom to the occurrence of all “chance” events. Nothing that happens is outside of his will. Yet, through our actions we also […]
Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Eph 6:16 NIV) Ephesians 6 describes the spiritual battle, and how it should be fought. The metaphors chosen by Paul seem to be especially appropriate for the battle that is called OCD–the flaming arrows being the […]
When an obsession strikes, a short time is available for straight thinking before it overwhelms us and we start doing compulsions. Maybe, there are a couple of seconds in which to do something really good and worthwhile. What we must do is put the obsession in a different perspective so that its fear is lessened […]
LET JESUS DO WHAT HE WANTS All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Matt 28:18 A thought-out, committed, and unswerving belief in God’s providence is absolutely necessary for the Christian who suffers from OCD. This bible-based and universally accepted part of our creed is, strangely, often deemphasized nowadays. The OCDer, […]