Religious OCD: How to Stop the Thoughts (Part 2)

Religious OCD (Scrupulosity/Legalism): Believe Differently And You Will ...

Believe Differently, And You Will Feel Differently

The reason why you feel the way you feel is largely due to what you believe, deep down. Change your beliefs, and your feelings will change. If we believe that God is an angry God, who excuses nothing and always watches over us with a grim and with all readiness to punish any slight wrong move or thought, then our feelings will be fear, anxiety, guilt and condemnation. However, if we believe that God is good, suffers long, is kind and doesn’t get upset with every little mistake we make, we will experience love from and for Him and we will be free to share that love with others. In his book, Fiery Faith, A.W. Tozer shares just how much he believes that our view of God’s nature can significantly impact our soul. “Nothing twists and deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God.” And “our notion of God must always determine the quality of our religion.” Therefore, when seeking to be free from legalism (scrupulosity, religious OCD), a key thing you need to focus on is to team up with God and ask Him to uncover erroneous beliefs that you have been believing and ask Him to lead you to the truth from His Word needed to replace the lies. You do that by asking the Holy Spirit to expose the lies you are believing and by asking Him to convince you of the truth of God’s Word in this area. So, with the help of the Holy Spirit, you pull down one lie and replace it with the truth, then you pull down another lie with the help and counsel of the Spirit of God, and then replace that lie with the truth of God’s Word. Little by little, precept upon precept, you will get better and better. Jesus said in John 8:31-32 NKJV, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”” Do not be surprised if it takes time, because it most likely will. It is a process. Do not give up, but faithfully seek God and His Word for truth, and then ask the Holy Spirit to convince you of the truth and align your belief with that truth. Submit your beliefs and your emotions to the truth the Lord is revealing to you. It will take patient endurance and holy determination, but in the long run, it will bear the long-waited reward.

Do not be surprised if you have some setbacks. You may experience what I call “mini-breakthroughs” and get up for a while, but then the devil finds his way in again through another lie you believe and which hasn’t been exposed yet. Then, you seek God, He reveals to you the lie you have been believing which enables you to renounce your agreement with it and replace it with the truth of God’s Word. And up you go again. And so on and so forth. Do not get discouraged if you feel like a yo-yo for a while. Do not get weary in well doing, for in due season you will reap if we do not lose heart (see Galatians 6:9). Those who sow in tears will reap in joy (see Psalm 126:5). God will see you through. Only continue to trust Him. The devil will also come and try us where we have experienced victory. So as we proceed in getting more and more rooted and grounded in the truth we are learning, we will not be as easily shaken when the devil tries us again in those areas.

Lastly, through it all, learn to cast your cares and anxieties on God. Trust God. He who began a good work in your will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (see Phil. 1:6).

Be thus encouraged, there is hope! There is a way out.

―Kathleen Kaczmarek

His Eye Is On The Sparrow So His Eye Is On You

The devil―The accuser of God and man

Not only does the devil accuse us day and night (see Rev. 12:10), but he also accuses God, His heart and His motives towards us:

“Now the serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden, Except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity.” (Gen. 3:1-5 AMPC)

In the account from Genesis chapter three written above, the devil was suggesting to Eve (and still is to us today) that God was withholding what was best for her and that really, God had lied to her and that in reality God didn't have her best interest at heart. The devil was insinuating (and still is to us today) that God was selfish and self-seeking and that He didn't want her or anyone else to become like Him; that He selfishly wanted to rule and know it all and keep such knowledge from her and Adam selfishly and without consideration of what was best for her and Adam. All of these suggestions were lies and a false representation of the thoughts, the heart and the motives of God. The Word makes clear to us that God always has our best interest at heart:

“This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isaiah 48:17 NIV)

And of course, out of pure love, God gave His all to us without withholding anything from us:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV)

Or perhaps we can look at the following verses to see just how much the Father gave us out of the good pleasure of His will:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3-6 NKJV)

And the list goes on. So, when thoughts such as "God doesn't want you to believe" or “God doesn’t want you” or “God has ulterior motives” or “God wants you in hell” (and even if those thoughts come with powerful feelings), understand that these are straight from the enemy of your soul. Therefore, stand your ground in faith believing the Word of God. The Bible says that God is no respecter of person (see Acts 10:34). Therefore, He is not withholding faith and salvation from you while allowing it to someone else. God sent His only begotten Son for all of us so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (see John 3:16). Furthermore, the Bible confirms that God desires that no man perish but all have everlasting life (see 2 Peter 3:9). Along with that, the Bible assures us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (see Ezekiel 18:23). And concerning God's very nature; God is love (see 1 John 4:16).

So choose truth over the lies of the enemy, and keep choosing truth no matter how long the battle, relying on the Holy Spirit and standing on the promises of God’s Word in faith with God’s help (such as the ones I just mentioned above). Quote Scriptures back to the father of lies, just like Jesus did when he was tempted of the devil in the wilderness. Submit therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you (see James 4:7). Choose the truth and let your feelings catch up later.

Lastly, please understand that the devil tries to make people think they are a special case; that they are different; that somehow, God has a different treatment for them, even a treatment outside of what the Bible declares. These are lies. You are not different from any of us; none of us are different from any other in the sense that we all need a Savior. There is no difference. We were all dead in sins and trespasses (see Ephesians 2:1). We all sinned and are falling short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23). Without Him, we are all sick with the disease of sin. Big and small, all sins must be paid for and Jesus paid for them all, without exception. In fact, the Bible says that where sins abound, grace abounds even more (see Romans 5:20). So be greatly encouraged. The devil is a liar. God is good and in Him there is no darkness or shadow of turning (see 1 John 1:5 and James 1:17); you can trust Him. He is a Rock and a Refuge to all who place their trust in Him. You can bank on the promises of His Word.

Be encouraged, there is hope! There is a way out.

Kathleen Kaczmarek

Your Identity In Christ: Who Are You Anyway?

The Waters Are Troubled! Be Completely Made Whole.