I’m worried that I wasn’t baptized properly

Question:

Hey,

I've been reading your articles about baptism and asked my Christian parents to baptize me. They were very kind and asked me if I believed in Jesus. I did everything right, except I'm very worried I was not under the water properly. They keep saying I was so I try to believe them, but I can't get it in my head. I asked to be re-baptized, and they said no, of course, and it worries me and is affecting my daily life. I'm starting to become very depressed.

I've wanted to ask for therapy but I'm too scared. I just want to be a happy, faithful person. I hope you can respond to me. That would make me so happy.

God bless.

Answer:

Notice that you don't have evidence that something was done wrong at your baptism. You are afraid that something might have been done incorrectly. This is the typical way a person with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) thinks. Some people refer to OCD as the doubter's disease. The person suffering from it is always unsure. But it can also be viewed as having an intolerance of risk [Fletcher Wortmann, "The Danger of Doubt: The Ruthless and Frequently Misunderstood Logic of OCD"]. The sufferer is striving for greater perfection in his life than God expects. He adds rules and requirements more stringent than God has ever made because he believes the rules might make him more acceptable to God. This problem is what Solomon warned against. "Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?" (Ecclesiastes 7:16). Since no one can exceed God's righteousness and we all come short of living without sin, the OCD sufferer has set himself up for failure.

Instead of worrying about your past and whether what you did was good enough, focus on your future. You've become a Christian. Rejoice in that fact and grow to become a strong Christian.

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