Should I confess this?

Jeremy444777 · Aug 20, 2018

Hi, I have severe OCD (I'm taking medication) and I possibly have Tourette's Anyway, I suffer from blasphemous thoughts and feelings of hatred. I was sitting and eating dinner at a friend's house last night with his wife and I couldn't stop getting sexual thoughts about his wife. I didn't look at her the whole time (until she asked me a question), however, I'm afraid I gave into the thoughts by moving my head in a certain way to impress her (I moved my head to the right while eating dinner). It's very hard to deal with OCD because I get these unwanted thoughts but should I confess this to my friend? The friend knows I have very bad OCD, I'm afraid if I don't confess I won't be forgiven. Also, I'm afraid this is considered cheating.

Please give me some advice. Thank you

dysert · Aug 20, 2018

I wouldn't say anything to your friend. That will just cause problems that nobody can do anything about. Seems to me that the severe OCD needs to be brought under better control (so that *you* can be under better control). Until that happens, you should probably try to avoid situations where temptation is going to get the best of you. Confess to the Lord, and keep it to yourself.

brinny · Aug 20, 2018

I agree with dysert, Jeremy. Praying for you (((hug)))

HTacianas · Aug 20, 2018

Jeremy444777 said:
Hi, I have severe OCD (I'm taking medication) and I possibly have Tourette's Anyway, I suffer from blasphemous thoughts and feelings of hatred. I was sitting and eating dinner at a friend's house last night with his wife and I couldn't stop getting sexual thoughts about his wife. I didn't look at her the whole time (until she asked me a question), however, I'm afraid I gave into the thoughts by moving my head in a certain way to impress her (I moved my head to the right while eating dinner). It's very hard to deal with OCD because I get these unwanted thoughts but should I confess this to my friend? The friend knows I have very bad OCD, I'm afraid if I don't confess I won't be forgiven. Also, I'm afraid this is considered cheating.

Please give me some advice. Thank you

It's not considered cheating.

As far as confession goes, "when in doubt, spit it out". You should confess anything you have on your conscience.

~Anastasia~ · Aug 20, 2018

If you have a trusted person for accountability who helps you with spiritual matters, or if you are part of a tradition that offers sacramental confession, you can confess your thoughts there.

But you should not confess them to your friend (at least not while you are still working through this, and maybe not ever), as it could cause unnecessary problems in the relationship or even tempt him to sins like jealousy.

There's a reason the early Church stopped public confessions of sins. It can do more harm than good.

In your case it sounds like you did nothing more than wrestle with temptation or intruding thoughts. Since you didn't fantasize about adultery, you haven't sinned against your friend anyway.

Albion · Aug 20, 2018

Revealing your thoughts to your friend is not 'confessing' in the religious sense of the word and so has nothing to do with being forgiven. To the extent that lustful thoughts which are indulged are sinful, that's between you and God.

I see nothing to be gained by telling your friend anything about this unless, of course, you fail to control yourself sufficiently and he notices you acting in a certain way towards his wife.

dysert · Aug 20, 2018

HTacianas said:
It's not considered cheating.

As far as confession goes, "when in doubt, spit it out". You should confess anything you have on your conscience.

Yeah, but confession goes to the Father, not necessarily to other people.

All4Christ · Aug 20, 2018

We are called as the body of Christ to help bring each other back to the integrity of faith. With that in mind, I agree with those who said to confess it to someone in the Church. See James 5. That said, I wouldn’t confess it to your friend at this time. I would confess it in confidence, rather than publicly. Confess sacramentally if you have that, or confess to your pastor, a trusted accountability partner, leader of the church, etc.

James 5

13Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

19My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Jeremy444777 · Aug 20, 2018

All4Christ said:
We aware called as the body of Christ to help bring each other back to the integrity of faith. With that in mind, I agree with those who said to confess it to someone in the Church. See James 5. That said, I wouldn’t confess it to your friend at this time. I would confess it in confidence, rather than publicly. Confess sacramentally if you have that, or confess to your pastor, a trusted accountability partner, leader of the church, etc.

James 5

13Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

19My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Thank you for your advice. I'm sorry, but what do you mean by ''confessing it in confidence''? Do you mean I should only confess this to a brother or sister in Christ or to Jesus?

Jeremy444777 · Aug 20, 2018

Also, do you believe I should confess this at all to my friend?

All4Christ · Aug 20, 2018

Jeremy444777 said:
Thank you for your advice. I'm sorry, but what do you mean by ''confessing it in confidence''? Do you mean I should only confess this to a brother or sister in Christ or to Jesus?

We always should confess to our Lord and Savior

but we also should confess to each other - to a brother or sister in Christ. “A prayer of a righteous person availeth much”. We are directed to confess to each other (a brother or sister in Christ) as well. We are a body of believers, not just individuals, so we work together on our journey.

Does that make sense?

All4Christ · Aug 20, 2018

Jeremy444777 said:
Also, do you believe I should confess this at all to my friend?

At this point, I would hold off on confessing it to your friend. I’d avoid doing that now, unless it becomes apparent later that it is needed for some reason. I don’t think it is needed or appropriate to do that now though.

Jeremy444777 · Aug 20, 2018

Yes, that makes complete sense, thank you. Do you believe if I never confess this to my friend I will end up going to Hell? sorry for asking so many questions, I really appreciate your time.

All4Christ · Aug 20, 2018

Jeremy444777 said:
Yes, that makes complete sense, thank you. Do you believe if I never confess this to my friend I will end up going to Hell? sorry for asking so many questions, I really appreciate your time.

No, I don’t believe you will go to Hell because of not confessing to your friend. I am not aware of any Scripture or teaching that states that we need to do that for our salvation. It does state that we need to confess to other Christians in addition to confessing to God, but it doesn’t say to confess to that person specifically. Division between each other is problematic, but if you ask God to help you handle this properly, I think that is the important thing to do (in conjunction with the other things I mentioned earlier). Also, I’m happy to help

Should I confess this?

Active Member

Member

everlovin' shiner of light in dark places

Well-Known Member

† Handmaid of God †

Facilitator

Member

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙

Active Member

Active Member

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙

Active Member

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙

Similar threads