Scrupulosity and Vows

I don't have much time right now, but I want to come back and give you a better answer.

Anyway, my suggestion to you right now is to trust in God that He'll work it out, don't try to fix anything yourself. Just relax and wait on God.

Oh, and stay away from sin ! !

It only complicates things.

God Bless You.

Danny

I'm back. Well, many years ago I went through a "vow" period. I would make a vow to God, then later I found out that it was hard to keep. My pastor told me to tell God I was sorry and that I made a mistake. Anyway, it seems to me that your vows are different. Are you making them to yourself? If you are, you can just forget them because you're probably making them out of a habbit or because of OCD type of thinking which is illusional thinking. If you see a bowl on the floor, or whatever the case is, don't make a vow or set a time limit or anything else. A guide you can use is by asking yourself what a relative or friend without OCD or GAD would do. So, what would they do??? They would just pick up the bowl and put it away, or they would leave it there until the next time they walked by, then they would pick it up. In the meantime, they were thinking about something else like sweeping or taking out the trash. They weren't sitting there looking at the bowl and making vows or promises, etc.

As far as what you mentioned about sin, when you're saved, you confess to God your sin, then repent, and stay away from sin. Look at the verse below.

"If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

I'll give you an example and tell you what I did. When I first came to the Lord, I read Acts 2:38. Then I got baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, and God filled me with the Holy Ghost. I spoke in Holy Ghost Tongues which is evidence that I have the Holy Ghost in me.

Now if I feel that I sinned, I do what the verse above says, then I feel good again. I feel free. I try not to sin again.

If we sin again, we repent and confess to God and ask for forgiveness again. No one is perfect, but we have to try to stay away from sin.

God cleans our slate so we can have a fresh start.

One more thing: Make your prayers simple. The Lord's prayer is only about 66 words long.

God Bless You. I wish you the best.

Danny

Good Morning Alphadux: I'm just wondering if you break your vow and feel you have to give up something you enjoy - do you feel you have to do this (give up something) to keep bad things from happening to you or someone you love?

This is what I have - not necessarily the vow thing but the fact that I must deny myself things I enjoy because if I cannot, it proves that I put these things ahead of God. I fear they become idols and that God will somehow discipline me by causing something bad to happen to my loved ones.

Just curious.

Kathleen

i was like that for awhile. God will help you tho He helped me!!!!

Do the the just live by making vows?

Obeying commandments?

by works?

Only by faith. What does faith in Christ as all your righteousness - yesterday, today, and forever - have anything to do with a vow. Apologize, and ask for forgiveness in Jesus' name.

Remember, God is not the one telling you to do little things all the time. He is a loving God. His Son died for you. You are complete in Him. There is nothing Jesus has not done to make you His own. He lives in us. You're are yeilding Christ's members to picking up a bowl. Does Jesus need to pick up a bowl before 2 o clock? We are His temple, He delights in us and lives in us. He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)

Therefore, don't make vows with God, because we are weak. Reserve yourself to no vows.

Romans 1:17
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed, from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

Faith in Jesus triumphs over your little vows that are not really true vows to God.

Trust in Jesus. He didn't make a vow to God and break it. so if you did, Jesus is all your righteousness. He is our hope, our way out.

God bless,
Ruukasu

Mat 5:33 "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.'
Mat 5:34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
Mat 5:35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.


if something is making u make vows.....dont listen to it, thats not of God, let it simply be yes I will go pick up something or no, i will not pick it up now

hope it helps

HI Alpha,
It's all OCD. Since you said you don't want to make the vows, an intrusive, unwanted thought,(spike) will pop into your head of a vow- like statement and because the thought is there you want it out so you then have to do the compulsion in order to get rid of the vow. But if you don't do the compulsion then the vow, (which is the "spike") causes you a great deal of anxiety because it's there and you don't want it there.
Am I close to how this guessing how this vicious cycle is wearing you out?
Blessings,
Gracealone
OCD is a tricky bugger most of the time.

Hi, Alpha. It's Danny again.
Gracealone hit the nail right on the head. When I wrote to you higher after your first posting, I forgot to mention that I do understand that all these things that are happening to you are out of your control.

Like Gracealone was describing, it is a vicious circle because when the vow comes into mind, one may try to get rid of it by agreeing to it. It's the classic OCD, just in a different way.

But it IS AN ILLUSION. In the past, has a vow come to your head, and it disappeared? Or you forgot about it and it vanished? But other times, the vow wouldn't go away, so you may have given in? This type of thing tells us that the OCD is a mind game that tries to make us play it. We need to ignore it and seek God.

Psalm 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

God Bless Ya !!

Dan