Around here, I’m all about helping people get unstuck. It is a joy to elevate voices of hope. Today’s guest article is by my friend and fellow advocate, Carolyn Ringenberg, MSW.  Join my free newsletter to be the first to receive articles, stories, announcements, and free ebooks: www.justinkhughes.com/getunstuck

Is OCD Spiritual Warfare?

By Carolyn Ringenberg, MSW

For the Christian client, OCD can often feel like you are being directly attacked by some sort of evil spirit, demon, or even Satan himself. I often hear clients say, “How do I know that this is OCD or spiritual warfare?” The question being asked, is itself, a need for certainty that cannot be sufficiently quenched for the OCD sufferer; however, it is important to help the client trust that OCD is not a spiritual problem.

OCD likes to latch onto the thing that is the most important to us, and for Christians, this is oftentimes, their faith. When OCD begins to make the client doubt the basic tenets of their treasured faith, many believe they are experiencing a spiritual crisis, and begin to combat the symptoms like many pastors, or faith leaders would tell to them combat temptation or spiritual warfare. I remember being a child struggling with OCD thoughts and my dad telling me to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) My dad also said that this meant that I should “wrestle every thought to the ground.” For those of you who have OCD, you know that this is the worst way in which you can deal with your OCD thoughts and doubts. In fact, ERP, and ACT treatment, tell us to allow the thoughts to be there, without engaging with them, and pursue actions that are rooted in our values. I believe that although Spiritual warfare exists, there is a big difference between a brain with an over-active amygdala, and being aware that we live in a world that has both the power of good and evil at work within it.

It is important for the Christian with OCD to keep in mind that although we live in a world where evil and spiritual warfare exist, Jesus has already won that battle, so we trust that the outcome is secure. It is also important that we as Christians do not over-emphasize spiritual warfare. Jesus has already won. We don’t need to always “spin our wheels” thinking, “Oh, no! Maybe the devil is attacking me with these thoughts!” OCD, like any other mental or physical illness, is a result of living in a broken world. It is not a result of sin, a spiritual weakness, or a warfare that you must fight: it’s the way that your brain processes information, that leads to an overabundance of doubt. This over-active amygdala is simply a result of the brokenness of this world, like any other painful thing on this earth.

Although I believe that it is important to not “over-spiritualize” our OCD struggles, when you look at the often quoted “spiritual warfare” passage in the Bible, I find it interesting that Paul encourages the believer to use FAITH as the shield for the “fiery darts” of the evil one. Ephesians 6:16 says, “In addition to this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” So, even IF we are dealing with spiritual warfare, how do we combat the flaming arrows of the evil one? We choose FAITH. What is FAITH? Faith is trusting, (not knowing for sure), but trusting in a God that we cannot see, hear, or touch, but that we put all of our hope in. What is the best way to combat OCD, and even (if it is) (maybe or maybe not?) spiritual warfare? Faith itself—the best treatment for both: leaning into the uncertainty, that maybe, just maybe, Jesus’ work on the cross was sufficient.