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2Bcatholic

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I have a constant fear that I’m always living in a state of sin and I don’t know if this is scrupulosity or something else…I worry about everything I say, think, do and don’t do…I try to go to Confession weekly and don’t deliberately want to offend the Lord but I am always questioning/requestioning myself about everything.

I don’t ever really feel any joy for worrying I’m offending God. Is this normal?
 
2Bcatholic said:
I have a constant fear that I’m always living in a state of sin and I don’t know if this is scrupulosity or something else…I worry about everything I say, think, do and don’t do…I try to go to Confession weekly and don’t deliberately want to offend the Lord but I am always questioning/requestioning myself about everything.

I don’t ever really feel any joy for worrying I’m offending God. Is this normal?
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Satan will do anything to keep you feeling that you are never reconciled with God. But seek spiritual direction on order that you might find the mercy of God. We are all sinners but God’s mercy abounds and His love is infinite.
 
2Bcatholic said:
I have a constant fear that I’m always living in a state of sin and I don’t know if this is scrupulosity or something else…I worry about everything I say, think, do and don’t do…I try to go to Confession weekly and don’t deliberately want to offend the Lord but I am always questioning/requestioning myself about everything.

I don’t ever really feel any joy for worrying I’m offending God. Is this normal?
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I’d like to give you a prayer for Joy. God has forgiven your sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. God now wants you to let go of your sins so that they can fall away like ashes disappearing into the wind. God wants you to release your sins from your heart so that He can fill your heart to overflowing with His joy.

For you, here is Psalm 51. Read it aloud every morning and night, and keep it with you during the day so that you can recite it again whenever you sense the gloom nearby.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love;
according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Fill me with joy and gladness; let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.
O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

Sometimes you will need a slightly shorter verse to remind you to rise up, lift your eyes, and be completely filled with the Joy of the Lord. This is my favorite:

Isaiah 40:28-31 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.
 
2Bcatholic said:
I have a constant fear that I’m always living in a state of sin and I don’t know if this is scrupulosity or something else…I worry about everything I say, think, do and don’t do…I try to go to Confession weekly and don’t deliberately want to offend the Lord but I am always questioning/requestioning myself about everything.

I don’t ever really feel any joy for worrying I’m offending God. Is this normal?
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I’ll just say one thing - be strong. We are soldiers of Christ (Eph 6:10-20) and fearful people cannot do battle with the enemy. Fear is the opposite of faith and anything that does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). So the very fact that you’re living in a state of fear is itself a sin, for you are not acting in faith. You need to believe that you are forgiven and live in faith.
 
2Bcatholic said:
I have a constant fear that I’m always living in a state of sin and I don’t know if this is scrupulosity or something else…I worry about everything I say, think, do and don’t do…I try to go to Confession weekly and don’t deliberately want to offend the Lord but I am always questioning/requestioning myself about everything.

I don’t ever really feel any joy for worrying I’m offending God. Is this normal?
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You feel the way Martin Luther did, and he was a monk, priest and Biblical scholar. It got so bad in his case, he reinvented the Christian religion, and launched the biggest rebellion ever seen in Europe up to that point. He started the Protestant Reformation.
 
I love St. Therese of Lisieux, and I would recommend reading ‘Story of a Soul.’ It is a simple, beautiful book on complete trust in God’s mercy. She struggled with scruples for a long time, but eventually overcame them. God bless! You’ll be alright.
 
“2BCatholic” Yes, it does sound like you’re suffering from a case of scruples (voice of experience, here 😃 ). Hang in there. You’ve gotten some good advice from those who have responded. I would like to add the following link. It talks about overcoming scruples. I pray it helps, and always remember that Our Lord LOVES you! God bless.

catholicspiritualdirection.org/scrupulosity.html
 
KingAlfred said:
You feel the way Martin Luther did, and he was a monk, priest and Biblical scholar. It got so bad in his case, he reinvented the Christian religion, and launched the biggest rebellion ever seen in Europe up to that point. He started the Protestant Reformation.
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How true this was. Luther was so negative in his outlook, dwelling on his own depravity, that he eventually decided to re-define Christianity to fit himself.

Please don’t try this yourself. Please?

I used to be a very negative person. I struggled with outside stress that I could not escape and I could not control. No matter how hard I tried, it wasn’t good enough. No matter what I did, I couldn’t fix the problems. Ultimately I turned on myself and concluded that there was something inherently and seriously wrong with me.

I did get out of it. For a few weeks I got away from the people who were causing me the stress. Then I was able to distinguish clearly between what was my doing and what was not. As certain negative circumstances re-emerged during my “vacation” I saw how I was the cause of some of my own agony. What I am myself causing, I control!! And if I control it, I can change it!! What other people are causing I can cope with if I open myself to God’s grace, if I let God be the one doing the coping according to His divine plan and timing.

I decided right then and there to set aside the grief that I was causing myself. It was not easy. It was probably the hardest thing I had ever chosen to do. I decided to smile, be positive, and focus on overcoming. At first I felt like a liar with a plastic clown-smile. But I kept wearing it, because deep down inside I knew that I really wanted that smile to be genuine.

I had years of bad habits to overcome. When I was tired I slipped. When I was under pressure I fumbled. When I was angry I lashed out. But I kept reminding myself, again and again and again, STOP!!! I CHOOSE to set aside the grief. I promised my Lord and Savior that I would “Let Go and Let God.” As I built new habits, better habits, I could see the results easily. Wow! That went so much better than it used to!

Now things are very different. I get up in the morning and gaze with awe upon God’s creation. I see the majesty and infinite glory that surrounds me. I see the clouds in the sky, I feel the warmth of the sun, I hear the chime of a child’s laugh. I smile, a genuine, broad smile.

Now I have people come up to me and say, “I wish I could be like you. You’re always so full of joy. Just being around you brightens my day.”

Thank you, Lord, for filling me with your peace. Thank you, Lord, for giving me the fortitude to receive your gift. :heaven:
 
When the Apostles’ Creed says, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” this means that you are REQUIRED to believe that your sins are forgiven.
 
I think I was misunderstood by some:

I have no doubts that the sins I confess in confession have been forgiven. My problem is that as soon as I come out and go back into the world and try to function as a good catholic that my every thought, word, action becomes sinful and that I immediately need to go back.

After talking with a priest I realize I do have scruples and am thankful that I have a good confessor who will help me through this.

Also, I have absolutely no intentions of doing what Martin Luther did! I cannot imagine not being Catholic! My lack of joy comes from thinking that I’m always offending the very God who created and loves me!!!
 
2Bcatholic said:
I have a constant fear that I’m always living in a state of sin and I don’t know if this is scrupulosity or something else…I worry about everything I say, think, do and don’t do…I try to go to Confession weekly and don’t deliberately want to offend the Lord but I am always questioning/requestioning myself about everything.

I don’t ever really feel any joy for worrying I’m offending God. Is this normal?
Click to expand...
Don’t deprive yourself of the enjoyment of life. God didn’t expect you to tie yourself to a tree. Had he been that irrational, he would never have had any followers. Even he himself admitted he suffered from “jealousy” so nobody is perfect, including him. He just wants you lead the best life you can. If everyone did that, we would create the happiest earth we could possibly dream of. That’s what God’s strictness is really all about. Can you blame him for wanting such wonderful things for you?

Just as children in a family who most please their parents are generally the most favoured and loved by them, so too will God favour those who most please him, not just in the afterlife, but also right here on earth.

There is one way in which he will likely be different from “some” parents, however. He won’t be blinded simply by the cutest or the most spoiled brat. He’s far too intellligent for that.
 
Tracy10 said:
Don’t deprive yourself of the enjoyment of life. God didn’t expect you to tie yourself to a tree. Had he been that irrational, he would never have had any followers. Even he himself admitted he suffered from “jealousy” so nobody is perfect, including him. He just wants you lead the best life you can. If everyone did that, we would create the happiest earth we could possibly dream of. That’s what God’s strictness is really all about. Can you blame him for wanting such wonderful things for you?

Just as children in a family who most please their parents are generally the most favoured and loved by them, so too will God favour those who most please him, not just in the afterlife, but also right here on earth.

There is one way in which he will likely be different from “some” parents, however. He won’t be blinded simply by the cutest or the most spoiled brat. He’s far too intellligent for that.
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God is imperfect? Total heresy. God is all-perfect. Just as Christ’s anger in the Temple was a righteous and perfect rather than a sinful anger, His jealousy, for example His saying that He is a ‘jealous’ God in the 10 commandments - is a righteous and perfect jealousy, not a sinful jealousy.
 
Tracy10 said:
God didn’t expect you to tie yourself to a tree. Had he been that irrational, he would never have had any followers. Even he himself admitted he suffered from “jealousy” so nobody is perfect, including him.
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WHAT?!?!!! :bigyikes: :banghead:
 
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