Guilt. What a force for destruction! Every single person who reads this has sinned, the person who is writing it has too. The question for today’s reflection is this: Do we torture ourselves with guilt over our sin, or are we forgiven?
I don’t know why, but I often run into people who are Christians and who have a terrible time getting past feelings of guilt for their sins, even to the point of questioning their faith. Every time I hear this, I am surprised by it for some reason! Why would a Christian be filled with guilt over their forgiven sins? Didn’t Jesus give His life on the cross to set us free from all that? Yet within Christianity there are some who teach in a way that centers on guilt. I do not question the faith of these people, nor do I criticize their motives, for they are repeating what they have been taught. I guess all I can really say is that I grieve for them, because this is so hurtful and damaging to those they teach.
A Christian has already been forgiven for their sins, even the ones they haven’t quite committed yet. God knows our weaknesses, but He loves us anyway: This is simply a fact. Yes, we all mess up sometimes, but God has taken that into account:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
If we believe the Word of God… no, let’s say it this way: If we believe God, then when we come to Him and confess our sins, He forgives them. Period. So why the guilt? We are forgiven, the slate is clean, we have been justified by our faith. End of subject. Wouldn’t we be more appropriate if we responded with thanksgiving and praise, rather than with guilt? After that, our response might be to serve Him with joy and gladness for all that He has done for us.
May we all ponder and reflect on these things, and pray for our brothers and sisters who find them hard to cope with, asking the Lord to open their eyes to the reality of all that He has done for His children.
Life Project Blog 
Interesting Post Don!
My friends and I often discuss this point as guilt is not the conscience at work. Therefore why do we use guilt, it is after all is said and done a natural feeling. As sinful people none of us are immune.
We moved our discussion the point the Apostle Paul makes about a Christian whose sin became notorious: (2 Corinthians 7:8-11) . . .For even if I saddened you by my letter, I do not regret it. Even if I did at first regret it (seeing that the letter saddened you, though only for a little while), 9 now I rejoice, not because you were just saddened, but because you were saddened into repenting. For you were saddened in a godly way, so that you suffered no harm because of us. 10 For sadness in a godly way produces repentance leading to salvation, leaving no regret; but the sadness of the world produces death. 11 For see what a great earnestness your being saddened in a godly way produced in you, yes, clearing of yourselves, yes, indignation, yes, fear, yes, earnest desire, yes, zeal, yes, righting of the wrong! In every respect you demonstrated yourselves to be pure in this matter.
The contrast is stark, godly sadness and repentance are more than merely confessing our sinful course we desire to right the wrong.
Paul also talks of habitual sins and instructs us to leave the former course of action as did the prophet Isaiah.
So why the guilt? (Psalm 38:3-6) 3 My whole body is sick because of your indignation. There is no peace within my bones because of my sin. 4 For my errors loom over my head; Like a heavy burden, they are too much for me to bear. 5 My wounds stink and fester Because of my foolishness. 6 I am distressed and extremely downcast; I walk around sad all day long.
So we need to reflect on (1 John 3:19, 20) . . .By this we will know that we originate with the truth, and we will assure our hearts before him 20 regarding whatever our hearts may condemn us in, because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.
Guilt is baggage we determine to carry the only way we learn to put it aside is to allow Gods love to lead our hearts and minds.
Anyway a great thought provoking post and I have sent a link to it to a couple of close friends.
Wonderful comments, thank you!
And shame it’s cohort.
Yes 🙂
Guilt. I think its a fine line between that sense of shame that stops you up short and causes you to think; “Gosh, have I just done that? How can I turn that around and make amends?”; compared with that persistent tugging on your sleeve, pulling you back and causing you to feel forever guilty. Often you can’t even remember the reason why the feeling started.
For a time I suffered from clinical depression. A characteristic of that is excessive guilt. I thought everything was my fault and I was a failure in many areas of my life.
The trick perhaps is being able to acknowledge my responsibility for the situation and let the rest go even if the other person will not admit their part in the problem. I am thinking of a particular instance now.
God does not condemn us. We condemn ourselves, sometimes aided and abetted by that snake-like fellow. If we consider that we are on the front line in the spiritual battle, perhaps it is not surprising that he won’t leave us alone and cripples our effectiveness through his use of guilt.
All the Best to you and all your readers this Christmas and Epiphany and as we start into a New Year.
Let us all be guilt-free.
Julia
Great comments Julia, thank you so much for sharing them today.
All the best to you in 2015!
Excellent post! I find myself getting angry at leaders who propagate the gospel of guilt. As you said, shouldn’t we rejoice at the fact that our sins are forgiven? Thanksgiving and praise should definitely be our response!
Guilt is an emotion that is designed to bring us to repentance. It is supposed to be temporary. Living in guilt is destructive and steals the joy that is ours in Jesus Christ.
I hope you have a fabulous New Year, Don. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
Thank you Rebeca; a wonderful new year to you!
I had a friend (passed on) who was a minister in the Church of Christ. During one discussion he confided how he regretted the western churches tossing out the babe with the bathwater when they broke from the RCC. One of his point is how in the RCC and Orthodox churches there is the sacrament of confession, where the person gets to hear the words, “Your sins are forgiven.” Like you, he encountered many parishioners in his travels who continued feeling guilty over their sins, even though they believed that God heard their prayers. Forgiveness is something we all need to feel, and to hear.
“You are forgiven”
Powerful statement!
You have a way with words! Thank you.
🙂
I’ve come back to this following a conversation this afternoon where the person concluded that he had been brought up to carry guilt and that for him life without the feeling was somehow evidence of a lack of faith. In a way a Christian carrying guilt for guilt sake.
So we reviewed some of the key scriptural counsel on letting go of the discouraging influence of guilt and understanding the importance of the resurrection. Christ’s resurrection assures us that he presented the value of his sacrifice, holy spirit at Pentecost the evidence of God’s acceptance so it is now in our hands – we sin, we die, repent and turn around making good the wrong we sin, confess, repent and live.
As you can tell this is just a couple of paragraphs on a much longer discussion.
I’m not sure if this applies to your discussion or not, but I sometimes wonder if we might confuse guilt and remorse.