Will God Punish Me for My Thoughts I Can't Control and Don't Want?

[pinkjess]

Does God punish us for thoughts we can't control and don't want?

 

[annrobert]

Does God punish us for thoughts we can't control and don't want?

No God will never do that.
A good parent will not punish a child for stuttering or tourettes or any illness.
God is much more loving and kind than human parents.
He understands our weaknesses and is touched by our infirmities.
He came to heal the broken hearted and set at liberty those who are bruised.
He leads us to still waters and restores our soul
He invites us to come to Him for rest and will not cast us out.
He came to save us
He loves us..

 

[frank1234]

Good words.

 

[John B Jr.]

Amen!!!

 

[HoneyComb Son]

I remember this one time..im not sure what it was..im in a dark time in my life at the moment..but one day i was fumming mad..cursing etc..blasphemies and more..and in it all..in one moment..I felt God kiss me..im not sure if it was Him or not..

just to show you..He is more then your sin.and He is not scared of it..He is much bigger

 

[Mayflower1]

I use to have thoughts I couldn't control and didn't want. God didn't punish me for them, though for the longest time I punished myself for them. No, God eventually pulled me out of them and taught me how to think things that were true, honest, pure, lovely, of good report. it isn't easy... I gave up television, and other things. and basically memorized scripture to replace these thoughts... anytime I had one of those thoughts, I would cast it down and say a scripture.

"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5.

this is the verse I stand on! because for so long, my thoughts ruled my life. my thoughts influenced my actions.

But no, Jesus doesn't punish you. He loves you. He can help you with this if you want Him too and ask Him.

Praying for you.

 

[Caty]

I don't mean to take over teh thread or anything, but I have a question concerning this. Okay, how do you consider them uncontrollable, I mean its like can feel mine comeing on (if that makes sense) and if Im by myself I can stay things out loud or I can yell or scream or something to make them go away, but whenever Im in public I cant, and thats when I feel responsible for them. See, its like somethign will trigger me (like anything concerning God, especially if it has something to do with the Holy Spirit) and Ill think bad thoughts but I'll try to block them out before I can say them in my head and it takes down my anxiety but when I slip and let one happen before I can say something that will cancel it out, I feel responsible. its like ill say a cuss word in my head and then before i put something to do with God along with it, Ill say something else and it eventually takes down my anxiety, but when I slip and let something about God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit I feel bad. Does anyone know what Im talking about?

 

[Mayflower1]

I know what you are talking about Caty. yes, you can feel them coming on.

I felt mine were uncontrollable though, because my daydreams were perverted by that of past abuse, things like that. so I would have victim stories in my mind. and for awhile I would allow them, because I saw myself as a victim. but then, when I started recovering, I had thought them for so long, they were almost impossible to stop and replace them with something else. Trying to block something like that out, just doesn't work. I needed God's help to show me the Truth on how to stop them.

 

[gracealone]

I don't mean to take over teh thread or anything, but I have a question concerning this. Okay, how do you consider them uncontrollable, I mean its like can feel mine comeing on (if that makes sense) and if Im by myself I can stay things out loud or I can yell or scream or something to make them go away, but whenever Im in public I cant, and thats when I feel responsible for them

Hi Caty, In my experience... it doesn't matter whether or not you feel them coming on... I mean it's pretty rare when OCD is bad to not have them intruding on your every waking moment. But this business of saying things or shouting things to try and undo or cancel them... well that's the compulsive side of the disorder. That's the fuel that gives those thoughts so much power and validation. They are not worthy of your attention. They aren't worthy of the battle you wage against them. But every time you go after them like that you are making them seem important to your brain. It puts them in a place of prominence due to your fighting them.
Yes... I do know what you're talking about. I think I've told you this before but I'll say it again. What you are describing is abnormally/normal in the way pure "O" OCD manifests itself. But you still have the choice to "just let them be there" to refuse to let them bully you around. Yes... the anxiety is going to peak when you do that, but in time you will be retraining your brain to view them in a different light. It takes time, patience, grit and perseverance but in doing so your brain will become so habituated to their presence that it will stop freaking out over them.
Meanwhile... I'm ever praying on your behalf.
Hang in there kiddo!
Mitzi

 

[Caty]

thanks, i just worrying sometimes because my counselor once told me that i have ocd like symptoms but she never told me that i had ocd, she just said we should work on the anxiety problem. so sometimes i worry i dont have ocd, especially when i get mad at God an they come on. or if they are really bad or the thing i dont want to say. like if i hear soemthing about God and I know it will trigger a thought its like i feel worse about it then if the thought just popped up randomly.

 

[annrobert]

Caty, have you ever thought about getting a secong opinion from a psychologist ot psychiatrist or doctor about whether you may have an actual diagnosis of ocd?
This way you would know for certain.

Also Jesus said he that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

regardless of whether a person has ocd fear doubt or confusion or thoughts.

Caty I hope you will consider getting some professional help from doctors or counsellors or a godly trusted friend as well as a a pastor maybe.

I hope you will consider getting all the help you can as well as getting godly people to pray with you and for you regularly as well as cry out to Jesus daily and read the bible to help renew your mind.

This will not last forever Caty and one day Jesus will wipe all tears from our eyes.

 

[Caty]

my counselor didnt help, and my pastor scared me, and i dont want to talk to any of my friends. i told mom an she is kinda helpful but i dont want to go into detail because i dont want her to worry about me.

 

[annrobert]

Caty,
I am wondering if you may consider finding a different counsellor or psychologist or psychiatrist, one that may be able to help you.

Also I wonder if you may consider finding an older mature godly christian, not neccesarily a friend, but someone who cares and has a close relationship with Jesus (who may be able to help you and pray for you).


Your mom more than likely knows you are hurting deeply and is already worrying about you, I would guess.
She may want to know more details in order to help you better.

Just some thoughts you may want to consider.

I just hope you can find some help and get well soon.

I know Jesus heals us and sets at liberty those who are bruised.
He is our mighty Saviour and our Healer.

 

[Caty]

i just dont want to talk about it to someone and them tell me im going to Hell, which is about what that preacher told me. but he also told me that the uf sin couldnt be committed by thought. i dunno though, i had some this morning and its like the worst happens when i first wake up but i had some later on in the morning and i just think that they are from me, i cant distinguish them anymore. im an angry person right now i feel like my life isnt worth anything, i have no more abitions or anything and im mad and im afraid that they are coming from me because of that.

 

[annrobert]

Caty,

Those kind of fears and confusion and hopelessness naturally make a person feel angry sometimes it does not mean the thoughts are coming from you, it means you do not want the thoughts and that you want Jesus.
Psalm 31


1In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
3For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
4Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
7I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
8And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
9Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
10For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
11I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
12I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
13For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
14But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.
15My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
16Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.
17Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
18Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
19Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
20Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.
22For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
23O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

 

[joshuaporch]

Sorry for reopening such an old thread, but I have a similar situation to Caty. Sorry for such a long post, but I really hope that someone will take the time to respond and help me out because this is a really complicated situation.

I am a 23 yr old guy, a rising senior in college. I have OCD, and although I am a happy person most of the time, I have moments where I get depressed and angry at myself and the situations that I seem to be stuck in that I don't feel like I have any control over.

I have had similar thoughts to what Caty said in the sense that I have felt for many years that God was punishing me for my bad thoughts in an attempt to get me to stop thinking them. I don't want to think them, but no matter how much I pray for God to help me overcome them, and no matter how much I try to push them out of my head or ignore them, they keep coming back. The majority of the time, it has to do with having impure thoughts about various girls. Just to put it out there, I have honored my promise to God to wait until marriage. Here is my story (about this problem I'm facing)

When I was in past relationships, and I thought something lustful about my girlfriend, something bad always seemed to happen in our relationship either a few hours or a few days after my impure thought(s). The other situation has to do with when I have been single, and there is a Christian girl that is single that I have met, and I want to try to go out with her. Whenever I have been in the beginning stages of getting to know her, all the way up to the point of rejection, I would often have lustful thoughts about them. And again, typically within a few hours or a few days of thinking those bad thoughts about them, something bad would happen between us. This would continue to happen until either
1.)I asked them out and they turned me down.
2.)I found out that they were really a rotten, mean person on the inside that did not show the fruit of the spirit.
3.)They end up dating someone else before I have the chance to start a relationship with them.
Or
4)They say they are not ready for a relationship.

I have had the problem of having lustful thoughts about EVERY girl/young lady I have ever dated, and EVERYONE I have ever had a desire to date. I know that it is wrong and I don't want to do it because I know it's a sin, but no matter how much I try I cant stop. I can resist it for a while, but it always eventually happens as I get mentally weaker and more worn out from fighting off these thoughts/feelings. I am a moderately attractive guy (like a 7 out of 10, nice but not incredible physique). I am not shy and I am confident yet very respectful to the young ladies that I meet and try to develop a relationship with. Because of all these good traits, I can't seem to understand why it is so hard to find a good girlfriend right now, and the theory that I have developed (in the next few sentences) is the only thing in my mind that can explain why this is happening to me. I may have a part of me that does not believe this "theory" is true, but I can't find any other logical real world explanation to go off of. As I have noticed this pattern over the years of thinking lustfully after all of these girls, and then having problems soon afterward, I have been convinced that God was causing or allowing those problems to happen to punish me for thinking in a way that I knew was wrong, and that it was also an attempt to make me stop. Many people have told me that God does not operate/behave like that. Even though I believe it in my spirit, my mind wont allow me. I continue to have "irrational" thoughts/fears that God will not allow me to find my future wife until I am able to make myself stop this frustrating cycle of fantasies. The thought of this frustrates me further because I can't seem to stop no matter how much I want to.

Please understand that I have a deep level of faith in God and I am a lot more spiritually mature than most of the people I know who are my age, and I am NOT a perverted person, I am just a victim of my hormones. It is NOT all sexual too, I have had a deep desire for a long time to have romantic feelings with someone, to have the positive emotional side of a relationship, the feeling of being deeply loved and cared about by someone that you feel the same way about (a type of love that cannot be obtained from regular friendships or relationships with family). I know that I wouldn't have this problem if I were married, but I can't find anyone who is a good match for me that also loves God and is serious about serving Him. I feel like I am stuck in a trap because at the very time of my life where my body is in it's prime state for intimacy, I have so many things preventing me from finding a good Christian mate, while also not yet having a way to make enough money to get married. These circumstances most likely wont change for another 1-3 years, even though I wish they would change before then. I feel worse when I see friends who are married or engaged who are younger than me or the same age as me that seem to have everything falling into place for them.

I know this sounds bad, but I have always struggled with the idea of people saying that you have to learn to be fully satisfied and fulfilled with Christ alone. While I know that may be how it SHOULD be, I can't change the way that I feel. If all I had in life was Christ, and the bare necessities to survive, but I never had a wife, I would probably feel like I was sub par in my level of happiness. Honestly, if the only things I had were Jesus, the bare necessities, and a good loving wife, I wouldn't care if I had none of the material possessions that most people enjoy, but honestly, no woman would ever want to live with someone in that situation anyway. I'm just making an illustration to show you where my priorities are. People always say that you must be fully satisfied with yourself before you meet someone else, that you can't expect someone else to complete you. I understand that and I agree. I have been let down by every person I have known, so I do not expect someone to complete me or to be perfect. But that doesn't mean that I can be content being alone either. I know, I know, Jesus is always with me, so I'm not technically alone, but I still feel alone not having a companion.

Please help me figure out how to manage/fix this situation, none of the people, even elders in the church, seem to really be able to fully understand or help me. Sorry if this turned into more of a rant than anything else. It's just what happens when I open up my heart to people. I can pray to God for help all I want, but since He doesn't speak to us audibly, all I can do is wait, and claim some scriptures. Honestly though, sometimes quoting scriptures helps a lot, and other times I feel so down that it doesn't even seem to help.

 

[JohnnyBlack]

Do you think it's considered sin to have a damaged leg or hand? Having weird OCD thoughts is no fault of our own, it's just something that we have messing with our thought processes. I have suffered with weird thoughts for a few years now and one thing I have had to accept is it's no different to someone else struggling with physical issues of their own. God loves us all the same even though our brains are messing us around, He understands just how difficult it is for us.

 

[Gods warrior 1]

Hi Caty

I understand how you feel I have had the same thing and still do at times. In the name of Jesus I command all anxiety and OCD symptoms to leave Caty now and to never return. Help her to think on things that are lovely and of good report. Help her to know that having bad thoughts is not sin and to just quickly give them to you when they come. Bless her a d encourage her and help her to continue being fruitful for you and your kingdom in Jesus name Amen.