Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It can be a serious problem for some people. For many of us who are sometimes labeled OCD, it is a way people classify those of us who are a bit detailed in some areas. I have family members who say I am OCD. Just because I change the toilet paper in hotels so it feeds over the top (the correct way, of course) or straighten hanging pictures…in other people’s homes…doesn’t mean I’m OCD.

One website describes the disorder this way:

“OCD” is one of those terms that some people misuse as a way to describe people who like things super-clean or arranged just so. But if you have the actual condition that’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, how it negatively affects your life is very real. -WebMD

I have a friend who was described as being so OCD that she says she is CDO…being sure the letters are put in the proper alphabetical order. I grew up hearing again and again, “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Is that OCD?

My desire is not to make light of a very real mental disorder that can have many levels of anxiety and be debilitating for some people. But it did get me thinking of spiritual applications.

I hope I am obsessed with knowing Jesus more and more each day. I hope to be obsessed with living in such a way as to faithfully reflect the nature and love of Christ to those around me. It seems to me that the Apostle Paul was obsessed in that way.

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NASB

Evangelist Greg Laurie spoke of Paul’s obsession.

“The apostle Paul had something essential for effective evangelism: a God-given burden for those who did not know Jesus Christ. In his case, the burden was for his own people, the Jews. He cared. It burned inside him.”

I hope my desire to study God’s Word would almost become a compulsive behavior, repeated again and again. Not simply going through the motions or becoming anxious about it. Rather, driven by my understanding of God’s great love for me and His desire to communicate with me through the pages of the Bible, I want to systematically and repeatedly dive into God’s Holy Word to see what He would tell me today.

As for the word disorder? It depends on how you look at this. To the lost of the world we know that our spiritual lives are foolishness. We have heard politicians talk about Vice President Mike Pence as being mentally ill because of his deep relationship with Jesus Christ. Many cannot comprehend that God communicates His love and direction to us through prayer, the Bible, and even the circumstances of life. Foolishness. And to say that the Lord Jesus “speaks” to us sets many off on a tirade about how unbalanced Christians are.

I want to live so close to God and His Word that nothing else gets in between us. So maybe I’ll change OCD to mean something totally different for my life.

Only
Christ
Directs

Now, let me go straighten a couple of pictures on my wall.