Overcoming Scrupulosity
In a previous article, I wrote about fearing God’s judgment. Before salvation, no one is a child of God (think of John 1:12 and John 3:3-6), so the lost should be afraid of judgment, but after salvation, we are meant for a close relationship with God. There is a healthy fear, of course, but an unhealthy kind of fear can hinder our walk with Him.
Romans 8:15, Galatians 5:1, Hebrews 4:16, and 1 John 4:17-19 all show the confidence we are meant to have, if we truly belong to God.
1. One type of scrupulosity is an obsessive fear that you are not saved.
The caveat here is that it really is important to make sure of your salvation. I do not recommend immediately dismissing questions about your salvation, because it can be dangerous. (See my article “Am I Saved?”)
Maybe you are saved, but something is coming between you and God; ask Him to show you if there is anything in the way, and seek Him with your whole heart.
Maybe you have seen evidence of God working in your life and changing your heart, but you are simply caught up in fear. Fear has a way of causing us to minimize and forget reality.
In my case, I had clear evidence of salvation. When I was 15, there was an immediate change when I prayed and trusted in Jesus for salvation. For about 8 years afterwards, I struggled with doubts. Finally, I realized that there was plenty of evidence of God working in my life and changing my heart, and that was not the problem. The possibility of being unsaved was ruled out, at least in my rational mind, so I came to realize that the problem was not rational. Just recognizing my problem with fear helped to expose it enough that I could leave it behind.
You may not have immediate results simply from one time, and it may take a while to quench the doubts. Remind yourself of the ways that God has changed your heart, think of the times when He has shown Himself so clearly in your life, and focus on drawing closer to Him. Being caught up in fear can keep you from moving forward and growing closer to God. Take your eyes off your fear and onto Him. Then, when you do have a consistent walk with God, it leaves very little room for doubt, because of all the evidence of Him being with you.
2. Another kind of scrupulosity is a conflicting fear that no matter what choice you make, it will be the wrong one.
Whether you turn left or turn right or stay in one place, it all feels wrong. You surrender to God, and yet you still feel full of confusion about every move you make.
Being careless is not the solution; we still need to live in submission to God. It would be wrong to think, “I have to do this in order to survive, even if it’s sin.” To live that way really is sin. Romans 14:23 says “whatever is not of faith is sin.”
Instead, the right approach is to pray, “I commit my ways to You, and I am making this choice in order to serve You.” Then you can move forward with your heart’s motives in the right place.
If you’re worried that it is conviction or leading from God, remember that He is “not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33). It is possible that you need to take more time to pray, because we should not rush forward with our own ways in life, but when praying even feels wrong, that proves it is only your state of mind, because He will never lead you away from prayer.
Even though the irrational part of your mind may still come up with all sorts of nagging questions, you don’t have to feed into it in your actions or by letting fear have control in your thoughts.
Study the chapter of Galatians 5 for a clear perspective of what our walk with God is meant to look like: liberty while serving God in love.
The best solution to both problems is to stand on truth while drawing closer to God in full surrender and trust.