All Christians have unwanted intrusive thoughts from time to time. A typical reaction to them is "Ugh! How could I have thought something so awful?"
Most of the time, we can shrug off bad thoughts, and turn our minds to other things. But sometimes, bad thoughts keep coming back, even though we do not want to be thinking them. With most people this is only temporary, and the unwanted thoughts will eventually go away. But it is still very distressing, so if you will read on, I will share with you some Biblical techniques that will hopefully enable you to quickly get them out of your mind.
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
When unwanted thoughts beset someone for an abnormally long period of time, this condition is known as OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder. Why is it called this?
Bad thoughts that someone cannot get out of his or her mind are called obsessions. But that’s really a misnomer, because no one suffering from OCD wants to be thinking such thoughts. Furthermore, if the unwanted thoughts happen to involve harming someone, no one with OCD alone ever carries out such thoughts. They truly do not want to be thinking those thoughts, so it is much more accurate to call them intrusive thoughts, or unwanted thoughts.
The things that people may do to get relief from persistent unwanted thoughts (such as constantly washing their hands if they cannot stop thinking about germs) are called compulsions. Though most people do not want to talk about why they engage in strange compulsive actions, you might be surprised at just how often an unwanted thought is behind a compulsion! (Not everyone who suffers from unwanted thoughts engages in compulsive acts, though.)
When there‘s a religious or moral motivation behind an OCD compulsion, then that form of OCD is called scrupulosity.
Is a Neat Person “OCD”?
Nowadays, we often call someone who is neat or organized “OCD.” When we do that however, we are actually misusing the term to describe someone who is just very disciplined. Usually, self-discipline is a good thing! It’s only when a habitual act becomes excessive, irrational, impractical, harmful or socially awkward that it might be considered an unhealthy compulsion. That kind of compulsion often does have an unwanted thought, a misinformed belief, or an unhealthy fear behind it.
My Own Experience with OCD
Back when I was in college, I had an episode of OCD that was so severe I had to drop out of school. My parents took me to a Christian psychiatrist but he misdiagnosed me and as a result, his treatment was not only ineffective at helping me but I suffered terrible side-effects from the drugs that he prescribed. But God had mercy on me, and in answer to the prayers of my family, friends, and other believers, I was delivered from OCD. It happened after I came to a fuller understanding of a single Bible verse! Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,” and I am a living testimony of the veracity of those words.
At first, I was ashamed of what had happened to me and did not want to share it with anyone. But years later, I decided to share the scriptural truth that God used to heal me, and other related truths I had come to understand, in a couple of online articles, in the hope of helping other OCD sufferers. When I began to consistently receive emails from people telling me how the articles had helped them, it then became apparent that God had allowed me to go through that terrible suffering so that I could help others.
Soon others also began writing to me desiring more help, and since I am a licensed minister with theological training, I have been providing biblical, pastoral counseling by email and phone to Christians suffering from OCD for over a decade now. I have also just begun to offer biblical counseling for OCD by secure video conference. So far nearly all of my counselees have reported to me that it has helped a lot, and some say that it has helped them tremendously. (It’s legal for ministers to offer counseling based on Biblical doctrine in private practice in Georgia, the state where I reside.)
I am going to share with you an overview of the most important principles that I share with my counselees who have OCD. Hopefully, when intrusive thoughts come, these principles will allow you to get them out of your mind very quickly.
What to Do When Unwanted Thoughts Come
All of us have unwanted thoughts to come now and then. When that happens, here’s how to deal with them from a scriptural perspective. OCD feeds on fear, guilt, and misunderstandings of God and scripture, so the Biblical principles I’m about to share with you are intended to address each of those problems.
Recognize that unwanted thoughts are intrusive because you don’t want to be thinking them.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 7:20,
“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
Paul had just finished speaking of his own struggle with covetous thoughts in Romans 7:7-11, so more than likely, he had intrusive thoughts especially in mind when he wrote this. By this, Paul did not mean that we are responsible for sinning when we have intrusive thoughts. Though the content of intrusive thoughts is often sinful, this does not mean that you are responsible for sinning when an unwanted thought flashes through your mind. What Paul was referring to when he said “it is sin living in me that does it” is that when we do something wrong that is genuinely against our will, then it is the law or principle of sin that is at work in our fallen fleshly natures which is the cause of it. This is not at all the same thing as intentionally doing something and then saying you could not help yourself. Rather, it is a symptom of our slavery to sin and our inability to set ourselves free from it without God’s help.
Suppose that you were a married person who had an involuntary muscle twitch in one eye. It caused you to wink, and once someone of the opposite sex misinterpreted that involuntary wink, thought that you were flirting, and assumed that you were an immoral person. It looked bad when it happened, but were you morally accountable for it? Of course not. You should think of an unwanted intrusive thought in the same way. God will not condemn someone with OCD for thinking something that they do not want to think, any more than He would condemn someone with schizophrenia for hearing voices. There is no need to confess an intrusive thought. God will not condemn you for it any more than he would condemn you for a muscle twitch. You can ignore it.
This, along with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins, is why Paul concluded in Romans 8:1,
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’
2. If you think that the thought involved some intentional sin on your part, confess it silently to God, and then rest assured that God has forgiven you for it.
This is because 1 John 1:9 says,
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Many people are concerned that they have committed the unpardonable sin in their thoughts or speech, but according to this verse, the only sin which is unforgivable is one that is not confessed. Remember that all of God’s word is true, including this verse. This means that if someone truly has committed the unpardonable sin, he or she will not confess it.
If the unwanted thoughts are coming frequently or rapid-fire, you do not have to spend all your time confessing. You can confess them periodically instead, as a group.
3. Recognize that if you have placed your trust in Jesus, you have already received eternal spiritual life, and will not be condemned by God for the unwanted thoughts:
“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (NLT, John 5:24)
4. Recognize that no true follower of Jesus will ever perish.
That’s what Jesus promised us in John chapter 10:
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand." (NIV, John 10:27-29)
That means that unwanted thoughts will not cause you to fall away from God and perish in hell.
5. Don’t wrestle with unwanted thoughts.
Should you wrestle with a grenade, or take cover from it? Wrestle with unwanted thoughts and you may very well find yourself in a losing battle, because ironically, sometimes the harder you try not to think something, the more difficult it is not to think it. You cannot actively avoid thinking about something without it being on your mind. That’s one reason why the Bible tells us that we should think about good things:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.” (NIV, Philippians 4:8)
So, don’t fight OCD thoughts. Think about something good instead.
6. Understand that there are two natures at war within you:
Your new nature, which is a new creation in Christ:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Your new nature is the real you, your redeemed spirit and renewed mind. This is the part of you that does not want to be thinking those undesirable thoughts.Your old fleshly or carnal nature.
This is the old you, and it is often called your flesh or your sinful nature. When you think an unwanted thought, it is not the new you, the new creation, that is thinking it. Rather, it is sin living in your flesh that is thinking that unwanted thought. By nature, your flesh is a slave to sin. If these ideas seem difficult to accept, then perhaps it will be illuminating to realize that’s exactly what the Apostle Paul said regarding his own struggle with covetous thoughts:
“Now if I do what I do not want to do [referring to him thinking covetous thoughts], it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Romans 7:20)
Since that unwanted thought comes from sin dwelling within you, God will not condemn you for it, for Paul went on to say,
“So then, I myself in my [redeemed] mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (NIV, Romans 8:21b-8:1)
6. How can I gain victory over my old sinful nature?
I will discuss more aspects of this in a future article, but the two keys Paul goes on to mention in Romans chapter eight are these:
1. Tap into the power of the Spirit of God.
“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (NIV, Romans 8:2)
The law of sin and death is a force, just like the law of gravity is. It is always trying to pull us down into sin. But just as a bird uses the law of aerodynamics to overcome the law of gravity and fly, you can use the law of the Spirit of life to overcome the law of sin and death. How do you do that?
One day I sat on a cliffside in Oklahoma and watched two eagles soaring effortlessly through the air. Other birds work very hard to fly, but they did not. It seemed as though they were floating as they circled through the air. How did they accomplish this? They were relying on invisible convection currents of air.
We can learn a valuable lesson from those eagles. Just as they relied on rising air to fly, we must rely on the Spirit of God to guide and strengthen us. Quit relying on your own self-effort. Simply relax, and rely on the Holy Spirit to empower you. Though you cannot see him, like the wind, He is there to help you. He will be faithful to do it.
“Even the youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” (BSB, Isaiah 40:31)
Yes, the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. You are free now. You have been released from slavery to sin. But just as a sailor must raise his sails to experience freedom from a powerful ocean current that he cannot out-row own his own, you must harness the wind of the Holy Spirit. He has provided the wind, but you must use it.
So why continue to remain on the ground? Spread those wings to harness the Holy Spirit, who is the mighty Wind of God, and fly!
2. Do not set your mind on fleshly things. Instead, set your mind on the Spirit.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (ESV, Romans 5-8)
Take some time to reflect: What is your mind set on most of the time? Is it set on the things that the Spirit of God wants you to be thinking about? Are you thinking good thoughts? Are you meditating on God’s Word and on doing good deeds? Are you watching clean movies and television shows? Are you fellowshipping with faithful Christians who love God? Is your mind fixated on growing the Kingdom of God, or on your own selfish ambitions? Set your mind on the Spirit, and you will find that intrusive thoughts and temptations will come much less often.
7. Lastly, take care of your mind.
Take time alone with God daily for relaxing, healing, mind-renewing communion with Him. Make sure you get enough sleep. When you are sleepy, your mind is telling you that it needs some time to rest and heal. So why not listen to it? Take a nap if you can, or go to bed early instead of forcing yourself to stay awake. Take a relaxing vacation now and then. Give your anxieties over to God in prayer, and leave them in His trustworthy hands. Hold no grudges; forgive everyone who wrongs you, even if they do not apologize. Unforgiveness needlessly robs you of peace. Don’t work yourself sick if you can help it; trust God to provide for you and take the time you need to for family and friends.
Go easy on things that can over-stimulate your mind, like too much caffeine and excessive video game playing. Avoid illegal drugs that alter your natural brain chemistry, and don’t get drunk or consume too much alcohol. Eat plenty of fresh fruit, raw veggies, raw grains, seeds and nuts just the way God created them. Though I am not suggesting you eat only raw foods, I am convinced that some of the micronutrients in raw foods help the mind and body to heal, but are destroyed by cooking.
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (NIV, I Corinthians 6:19-20)
There is much more that I share with my counselees, but I think that this essential advice will help most Christians when unwanted thoughts come. If you need additional help, you can read the following article, which goes into more detail:
Help For Christians Who Have Difficulty Controlling Their Thoughts
If you need to speak with someone personally regarding unwelcome thoughts, I encourage you to find a biblical counselor, minister, or a licensed Christian professional who is experienced and effective at helping people with OCD. I offer Biblical counseling for OCD via secure online teleconference, meaning you can receive counseling from the comfort of your home. You can click here to sign up for a counseling session.
Should intrusive thoughts ever come your way, my earnest hope and prayer is that these truths will enable you to quickly shake them off and set your mind once again on the Spirit of God.
Rusty Entrekin
Biblical Counselor
Rusty is the founder & owner of PeaceBrooke Biblical Counseling, LLC
(Your feedback is welcome. Write to rusty@peacebrooke.org.)