Over the years, I have seen a lot, heard a lot and read a lot. Believe it or not, I’ve listened and observed more than I have spoken, for I am quiet by nature. One thing that I have observed is the destruction and chaos that feelings of guilt can cause in a person’s life. In working with Christians as a mentor or teacher, I have noticed that there are people who are constantly held back in their walk with Christ because they simply can’t get past feelings of guilt.
I don’t know for sure whether this chronic guilt comes from personality traits or religious instruction or both, but when it is present it is terribly destructive. Before I go any further, I would like to make a distinction between feelings of guilt and a guilty conscience. Having a guilty conscience seems to me the result of having done something to harm someone else. It isn’t a chronic condition, instead it is a voice with our own minds telling us to set it right. When we suck it up and go make the situation right we feel great relief and move forward, and that is not what this post is all about. This post is about a chronic feeling of guilt. Guilt for sin in general that makes us feel as though we cannot be forgiven, or that we are just somehow not good enough for God to love us, or maybe just that since we aren’t perfect, we must be bad. I think maybe some religious traditions might add to these feelings in an unfortunate way.
The real question for a Christian of any doctrinal background is simply this: Should this chronic guilt play a role in the Christian life?
The answer to this question is so clear that maybe we miss it some times. Being a Christian requires that we have already been forgiven because of our acceptance of the atoning sacrifice made by Christ on the cross. Our sin is forgiven, our actual guilt for having sinned is removed and the slate is wiped clean as though we had never sinned at all. Therefore, guilt has no place in the Christian life! If we sin after we have been forgiven, that sin is also covered by Christ’s blood:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
That God has forgiven us isn’t even in question, it is a fact of history; we know it for sure. We must be in the habit of holding fast to the facts even if we feel differently, for feelings are no measure of theological truth. Theological truth is established by the Word of God, not by emotions that come and go.
I think that many of us have a harder time forgiving ourselves for falling short than God has in forgiving us. Since God has already forgiven you for all of your sins and shortcomings, are you ready and willing to forgive yourself for them?
We need to have the attitude of Abraham:” just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” (Gal. 3:6) Let’s make a conscious decision to forgive ourselves, to confess our sins to God and to believe God’s promises; let’s decide to leave guilt in the grave and arise to a new life of freedom in Christ!
Life Project Blog 
Amen! Wise words. I even think we should re-write the bible: Love: You, God, Neighbour. “You” always comes last in the official version. Maybe that is why – it seems to be the hardest one to crack.
There are those times…
Excellent post Don. Spot on.
Thanks Dan!
I have always been moved by the fact that so many Christians struggle with chronic guilt.
You are right on about being forgiven and feeling forgiven.
While forgiveness is instant, feeling so does not always change that quickly. Even after we are offered forgiveness, often the pain and feeling of guilt linger after the problem has been taken away. One of the biggest reasons for this is that emotions cannot be simply turned on and off at will. The same is true with emotions of anger or hurt. Sometimes even after we forgive we still struggle with anger, resentment and pain.
Our emotions were given to us by God to help us see and understand right and wrong. But sometimes, because of our sin, they get in the way instead of helping. There is a big qualitative difference between feeling forgiven and actually being forgiven.
You are right on about that, Dan. Emotional pain is tough to deal with, and it has always struck me as important to grab the facts and hold on tight in order to begin to let the pain go. Of course that’s always easier to say than to do for most people! Yet, to be a slave to needless guilt is its own tragedy
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Thank you, Don Merritt. I wrestle with this a lot…
Great post. What I would add is that sometimes, some people need the help and ministry of their brothers and sisters to believe that they really are forgiven. I am talking about confession before another human, or the assembled people, as well as before God. I will never forget seeing a woman struggle into the confessional in my local RC church, on a stick, in terrible pain. That she already repented was without doubt and so, that she was already forgiven by God was also without doubt. But she needed the human response, the human voice, reminding her of God’s eternal love for her, before she could put her forgivenness in her heart as well as her head.
She unloaded several years’ worth of troubles. The priest pronounced absolution. Regardless of what you believe about sacramental confession – the rite of reconciliation – she walked out upright, painless and in no need of a stick. There was genuine healing to be found in the confessional that day, whereas she’d been unable to find it without that ministry.
You know, it is interesting that you share this, and thanks for sharing it btw. I’m not Catholic, but I had an interesting experience along similar lines recently while at a ministry training workshop. One of the exercises was to get with a partner and confess something to the other person that might be bothering us, and then for the other person to share God’s forgiveness.The person I was teamed up with was a pastor who became quite emotional as I was sharing with him about how God has forgiven him for the thing he “confessed.” He explained that it had hit him as I was talking that this was the very first time in his adult life that someone had looked him in the eye and told him he was forgiven. At the end of the workshop, we had to go around the room and share with the group what each of us considered to be the high point of the workshop, and this pastor said it was being forgiven. Needless to say, I learned something that day!
Amen. Just a while ago we listened to a teaser on a preaching about the weakness that draws us closer to God. We have already been forgiven because of Christ’s atoning blood. Therefore we have the boldness to enter into His throne of grace (Heb. 10:19) It’s such a comfort to know that the fact we grieve our sin is the evidences of God’s Spirit compelling us to draw near Him because He has already claimed us!
Thank you for reminding us, fellow sibling in Jesus. God bless.
That was very well said; thank you!
I was actually led to make a testimonial blog when I read your post. I’m very thankful for the way God moves in our lives, so please continue using your passion for writing to inspire others to draw closer to Him. ^_^ You’re free to read my post if you want, but it’s up to you. Thank you very much and may God bless you.
A testimony that will inspire all who read it, thanks so much!
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