OCD/Anxiety and Bible Reading

[darknessb4themorning]

Hello friends. Since I got caught up in reading a lot of legalistic and judgmental literature my view of God has been warped. I've seen more of his wrath and anger than his love and mercy. I've found that reading the Bible sometimes makes my anxiety and feelings of condemnation exponentially worse to the point where I have to put it down and distract myself by doing something else. I've also found that my OCD is sometimes worse after reading the Bible; in fact, it seems to be my most reliable trigger. I've gone for days without reading the Bible to try to escape from the anxiety and OCD, but then I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I don't know what to do, and I can't take the feelings of condemnation anymore. I've even tried reading the parts of the Bible that talk about God's love and mercy, and that doesn't seem to help that much. The one thing that seems to help is talking about the Bible to someone else, especially if I can express my fears and anxieties. I can't do this very often, though, because it's hard to get time with people.

 

[OCD COACHING]

Your OCD and God can coexist. OCD loves to latch onto what you hold most dear because of the emotional energy important things carry.

If you feel overwhelmed by your OCD when your reading the Bible, do what you just described by talking about it with someone, or reading bits and pieces at a time, listen to it on an audio tape. Baby steps works great as long as you keep trying.

Don't fight your OCD thoughts. Instead affirm they are there and try to continue on while focusing on other things.

Guilt and condemnation are two weapons OCD uses. If it is possible for you to observe your emotions but not be consumed by them, you will lessen OCD's grip.

OCD is a liar. Spending time in God's Word is worth the effort you are putting in. I hope you are giving yourself a lot of credit for staying with it.

God is Love. He knows of your struggle and will not penalize you for your struggle to spend time with him.

Although time may be hard for you to find with people, find someone who can support you and understands what you are facing. Make appointments with this person regularly and if you do, you will find OCD backing off.

Many Blessings,

Coach John

Ocdcoaching.com

 

[LivelaWahrheit]

I know how you feel. I'm not completely positive as to how, but at some point during the last few months I started going through what you've described, although I think it's to a lesser degree. It's not a constant; sometimes I read the Bible and it's great, other times I've experienced that anxiety, especially when I read the name of Jesus. It's like deep down some part of me feels condemned or ashamed or something, idk. Very frustrating sometimes. I trust that the Holy Spirit is changing me though, and will bring me to the point where I'm beyond this, "for it is God who works in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

 

[Chance7]

Me too. The thing that I do is just keep going. I’ve found that if you keep reading through what’s bugging you, it eventually goes on to something else and gets better. Like livelawahrheit said, try audio Bibles. I listen to YouTube before bed and it has helped me greatly. Make sure you research the parts you read, by the way. I hope this helps. God bless you!