Coping Statements For Christians With OCD and Scrupulosity
Dealing with Doubt and Uncertainty
- Faith is not the absence of feeling uncertain. Faith is going forward through the uncertainty.
- OCD wants me to believe that uncertainty and doubt are dangerous. While uncertainty is uncomfortable, it is not dangerous, and I can tolerate it.
- My faith is what I believe, not what I feel.
- Feelings are not facts.
- OCD will always bring up another What if . . . ? Trying to nail down all of the What if . . . ? questions will lead me down a path of never feeling good enough or certain enough.
- I can have faith and still feel uncertain. Mark 9:24, “…Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
- God loves me completely, even when my feelings are uncertain and clouded by doubt.
- My peace with God is not based on my feelings. Rather, as Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Therefore, I am at peace with God because of Jesus whether my feelings agree or not.
Dealing with Intrusive Thoughts
- Even though they feel real, intrusive thoughts (i.e., distressing thoughts or images with violent, sexual, or blasphemous content) say nothing about my true character.
- The goal of the intrusive thoughts is to shock and scare me, so I try to suppress or “fix” them. My goal is to identify them as “intrusive thoughts” and move on instead of fighting with them.
- Having an intrusive thought does not make it more likely for me to act on it.
- God understands that intrusive thoughts are distressing to me. He understands OCD better than anyone!
- OCD wants me to believe that worry, anxiety, and compulsions will protect me spiritually. That is all part of the trick OCD wants me to believe.
- OCD wants me to fight with my thoughts and try to control and suppress them. OCD knows that by getting distressed and fighting with the thoughts I will refill the “gas tank” in the obsessional engine and keep it running.
- Trying to prevent myself from ever having certain thoughts, images, and feelings only makes them worse.
Tips on Moving Forward
- One of OCD’s biggest tricks is asking me the question, “What if this fear isn’t from OCD and it really is a serious issue?” Whenever this thought (or one similar) comes, I will treat it as OCD and not try to figure it out.
- I will pray to God for grace and strength to accept/move on from intrusive thoughts without figuring them out and fight doing compulsions, neutralizing, or avoiding.
- My goal is to “starve” OCD by not giving meaning to intrusive thoughts or doing compulsions.
- I have two choices: (1) to chase after a feeling of certainty that never comes or (2) to choose to move forward through the uncertainty.
- My goal is to focus on doing the tasks that I need to be doing in the present moment (studying, cooking, talking to a friend, working) instead of focusing on trying to figure out the uncertainty or fear.
- I need to focus on the present moment and allow my thoughts to come and go.
- Trying to figure it all out only makes it worse.
- God understands that I don’t understand.
Click for printable document.
Additional Articles
Seven Shifts For Beating Religious Scrupulosity Webinar
In this webinar recording, Ted Witzig Jr. will walk through seven different ways to pivot your treatments to help improve your condition and to grow.
Scrupulosity OCD & Mending Your God Image
Scrupulosity OCD can badly distort how you view God and how you think he relates to you. Plenty of terms get thrown around that describe this condition when it comes up in a discussion. They may include: Religious OCD. Extreme Christian anxiety. Moral OCD. Religious intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts about
Five Keys to Beating Scrupulosity
What is scrupulosity and what can be done to overcome it? In this webinar recording, Ted Witzig Jr. shares real hope and practical helps with those who struggle with scrupulosity OCD and those who love them. He walks through five practical keys including: Understanding faith, doubt, and uncertainty. Using Acceptance
Comments
47 Comments
Your information here is so helpful. Thank you
Thank you so much for this article, it has eased my mind and heart greatly. God bless you!
Very comforting. Thank you. Probably the most concise, godly help I’ve seen. God bless you. We will all know why and the “what ifs” one day when we see Jesus’ face.
I this is so helpful Thabk you so much and God bless you!
This is so helpful…Thak you!! I wish someone would come up with a devotion book for people would hve ocd…
Thank you! I’m currently dealing with OCD and this has given me a lot of helpful information. God bless you 🙂
Wow, so simple and easy to understand. There is a ton of information out there for OCD, but I really needed something that would literally tell me what to do. Most of the time, my mind can’t think straight. But when I read these out loud something is clicking. My cognitive part is lighting up and the fear side is calming down. Not too sure why, but it makes sense. My faith is so important to me. And I’m always trying to stop my thoughts because I want to make sure God knows that it’s not me doing it. I’m always in a state of panic and asking God not to leave me. I love the one that says God knows our thoughts are distressing to us. Accepting the uncertainty is super hard. That makes me so scared. But I love the one that says having a thought does not mean you’re a bad person.
I am going to print these out, my mind never stops going. So these are going to help me. Thank you!
This is an awesome page. Thank God
For Years I thought I was alone with this issue, now I see so many brothers and sisters dealing with this, is refreshing to know that more are going through the same as me.
Thanks a lot for this information, God bless you abundantly.
I can’t thank you enough for this! I stumbled upon this when I realised that recent thoughts and feelings had seem to come from nowhere and was searching. To find a name for what I’ve suffered with for years is just the most reassuring feeling ever! I’m not a bad Christian and not guilty of endless sins. It helps so much! Thank you! God bless.
I couldn’t leave this page without saying thank you! i really appreciate it. It helps 🙂 God be with you Tim
This really helps me! This is the first time I have ever come across any form of counselling that helps me with what I’m dealing with. God bless you!
God bless you! This information is hope filled and life saving!!
Thank you so much for this reassuring posts. I have been dealing with intrusive thoughts and it has been an uphill battle. But i believed that this too shall pass and that God will turn everything for my good. God richly bless you!!
Much in tune with the rest of the comments, I too struggle with OCD/intrusive thoughts. I think OCD is the evil one trying to get into our heads and make us think that we’re bad because of these impure thoughts that come into our heads. Stay strong brothers and sisters. Thank you for these tips, I will try to implement them as they seem like they could help tremendously! Thanks and God bless
This is good!
I want to leave a big thank you for this article.
I was extremely distressed with intrusive thoughts and having read that helped me to have faith to move forward despite feelings of uncertainty.
God bless you always.
I go to this page at least once a month for.comfort. it’s well written and to the point.
It’s also nice to know I’m not alone!!
I was suffering from a bad depressive anxious season, triggered by a sort of panic attack, and then one day i was watching a video, and then a man said something along the lines of: “God loves you, Jesus loves you” and it touched my heart. What was basically a depression that i had, started going away the day i placed my faith in Jesus for salvation, my ocd and anxiety issues started improving and though i still have ocd (and a little bit of bdd recently) and its anxieties, i have experienced the difference that God has made in my life, especially in regards to bdd. I noticed that after all this time, im better than i was before, thanks to God!
Wow, literally everything I thought about was in this article! I feel so much at peace knowing all of this. Thank you for taking the time to write this! God bless you!
Thank you so much for this. I have been struggling more recently with a great deal of things; and as a nursing student I somehow became obsessive about many things. At this point I am battling with a fear, and sometimes I felt like when I gave in to my fear God would be upset with me because I wasn’t trusting him and having patience. I get worried that he will leave me or punish me because I keep seeking out more reports about things coming up with my health ect.
However reading this I see that God knows my mind more than anyone and he understands that I am in pain. However, no matter what he will be with me as I learn to overcome this.
Thank you so much for giving me hope
God loves you
I was afraid I was the only one dealing with this. That it made me a bad person. It was stopping me from having normal relationships with friends; family; potential love in dating…I’m seeking professional help and I believe God is guiding me that way. We will not lose the war in our minds. Thank you all for sharing your testimony in this battle.
Amen brother!!
Thank you so much for this! It brings me to tears to know that I’m not alone in this.
You arent 🙂
This has been a big blessing. I’ll use it every day, God bless you!
Thank you. I appreciate you putting this out there for Christians with OCD. it is so comforting!
This is very helpful as we know the intrusive thoughts are not rational but we still believe them. This puts the truth in front of us. Thanks for posting.
I felt so alone in this. Intrusive thoughts can make you feel so isolated, ashamed and out of control. I need to trust God’s word and endure, but this brought me so much hope and comfort! Reading this passage and all the comments has enlightened me so! I (we) are not alone! God’s peace is true, and He understands our struggle even more than we do! Stand strong my brothers and sisters in Christ! I am praying for you!
Thank you for this, I struggle with OCD and it’s compulsions a lot of the time. Sometimes when i’m angry, tired or happy these thoughts seem to come at the worst of times when i’m not in the right state of mind, making me more ashamed of myself. My compulsions cause me to panic when an intrusive thought pops up in my head and so I try to “fix” or suppress them by trying to replay the scenario but this time I try to disrupt the thought, which gives me a sense of temporary relief in which I want God to know that i didn’t want the initial thought in the first place and I’m trying to fight them. I would get distressed for so many years because of feeling uncertain as to what God thinks of me, but know I realise that he understands and has done so much for my life even after the worst of times when dealing with this condition. This article really got straight to the point and has been so relatable and I just want to say thank you for this from the bottom of my heart and God bless! and I will keep all you guys who are struggling with this issue like me in my prayers =) Take a deep breath, relax and know that God understands the struggle
What a relief to read this article and know that there are brothers and sisters going through the same thing. I think a devotional would be a great idea S.K
Thank you so much i struggle with this and this is very helpful to label something. Only God knows me and he understands ocd better than anybody. God bless
This is so helpful. Thank you.
wow this is a blessing
Woooow, this is amazing. I’ve been an overcomer in this area for about 10 years now but going through a stressful season where the OCD is flaring up again. I believe the Lord brought me to this page and I am going to keep coming back to it in moments of doubt and refer others I know here as well. This is a life-line! And please, we need a devo for OCD – maybe there’s already something out there, but it’s hard to find authors who truly understand….and you seem like you do! Thank you!!
Just wanted to let you know this helped me a lot tonight!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much
Thank you so much! I feel better. Glory to God!
I’m going through all these comments right now just crying, I thought I was totally alone in this. Every single thing I’ve thought throughout the time I’ve been dealing with intrusive thoughts has been mentioned in the comments or article, I really can’t believe it. I wish none of us had these thoughts but I thank God I now know there are others fighting with me. I honestly thought I was losing my mind or something. Thank God for all of you.
Thank you so much for putting these simple but very necessary-to-remember thoughts together in one article. These are the reminders I need to keep hearing… OCD is redundant, and I want to also be relentless — by God’s grace –in soaking in truths such as these so I can move through the difficulty into the freedom I believe God wants me to experience.
Thank you.
Wow! Thank you so much for writing this article it was so refreshing and even though I already knew these things it’s so nice to read them again and really train my brain in this way since it wants to go the OCD route. Also, reading all the comments have brought me so much peace in knowing (like others have said) that you are not alone and others in Christ are struggling as well. It’s so comforting to know you are not alone in the battle, one because God is on our side and never leaves us or forsake but two because there’s other people that know where you’re coming from. Thank you so much!
Thank you for this and may God bless you.
Thank you, going to try and pare this down for my 12 yr old who suffers greatly, along with the OCD torment, she is a believer, and having the battle with anxiety and OCD, makes her question if she is really ” saved “. Which is sad, and frankly, exhausting. I understand as I battled this as a teen. But my heart breaks seeing her go through this. It affects her energy, grades, sleep, our marriage, our family…all of us. Thank you
Praise the Lord for this article, this is so enlightening. He answered my prayers. I might add also that in my obsessive (not compulsive) moments, I am reminded that my faith and salvation ultimately rests in something outside of myself, namely, Someone — and that Someone is Christ. We have to truly understand that we are like this because of our twisted and broken nature, owing to our sinful nature. But praise God that we have the victory in Christ Jesus! I have noticed that the obsessive thoughts go away for a short season once I busy myself with other stuff. I think the biggest first step to healing is identifying it as such!
May God bless you for putting this out here. It really helps a lot!!
This is so helpful! I’ve been battling this issue for a while now and it can feel so lonely and frustrating when you’re in the thick of it. It’s great to know that there are other brothers and sisters in this fight with me. It’s my prayer that we can all learn how to trust in Jesus through the uncertainty. Thank you for your work on this Ted. Praise Jesus!!
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