Robert Jeffress wrote in his fine book “Choose your Attitudes, Change your Life” “Guilt is one of the most debilitating of human emotions. It wreaks destruction in our relationships and our spiritual lives. It is also a major cause of depression”
Jeffress is right. Guilt accuses. Guilt condemns. Guilt convicts. Guilt is mentally draining. Physically demanding. And spiritually disastrous.
So, can we live guilt free? To do so, we need to understand some things
(1) Guilt is real. We are all guilty. Guilty of sin. Every one of us. Paul penned in Rom 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
(2) Guilt is not necessarily bad. A normal person will feel guilt. When we do wrong we should feel guilt. The beloved John cautioned, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”( I Jn 1:8).
(3) We can’t hide our guilt from God. The Psalmist said, “You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you” (69:5). We may deceive other people. We may even deceive ourselves. But God knows. You can’t fool Him!
(4) But there is good news. Paul penned, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Rom 8:1, NIV) Christ removes guilt because His blood redeems us from sin (Eph 1:7). We don’t have to fear. We don’t have to hide. We don’t have to carry around the baggage of sin, and the burden of guilt. God’s grace can resolve the problem of guilt.
Too often we fail to enjoy the grace of living guilt free because of unresolved conflicts. They may be conflicts we have with God. Or conflicts with other people. Or conflicts within ourselves. Conflict keeps us feeling guilty. They must be resolved.
So, guilt is addressed by realizing our sin. Guilt is removed by repentance. And guilt is kept from returning by a constant and intimate relationship with God. If you are a Christian, you are God’s chosen, forgiven heir. Don’t wallow in guilt. Get up. Seek Forgiveness. Embrace His grace. And enjoy a guilt free life
—Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
ThePreachersWord 
Amen, and AMEN!
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We have all heard, “I know God has forgiven me, but I can’t forgive myself.” I have experienced a melody of various reactions to that. At times I have thought, “Who do you think you are? Is your standard higher than God’s?” At times, simply: is it our perogative to forgive ourselves?”
Don Bassett recently made an observation in a lesson that has helped me here. He said there is a guilt that is forgiven but is irremediable; i.e. there is no way for one to correct what he has done. I suppose we all can think of sins we have committed in that category. This may be what people feel and mean by the statement. Don gave Saul/Paul as an illustration. His murder of Christians (Acts 9:1; 22:4f; 26:10) was irremediable. In such cases we must follow his example of forgetting what is behind (Phil. 3:13) or putting the past behind us and pressing on.
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Hey Ken Really good comments and observations! Thanks for taking the time to respond and share…and thanks for reading my blog!
Ken Weliever 12107 Wood Duck Pl Temple Terrace, FL 33617 Home Phone: 813-899-4539 Cell Phone: 813-507-1726 preacherman@weliever.net web site: http://www.weliever.net blog: http://www.thepreachersword.com
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Excellent article, I really appreciate your thoughts
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Thank you, Ken! I appreciate you reading my blog
Ken Weliever 12107 Wood Duck Pl Temple Terrace, FL 33617 Home Phone: 813-899-4539 Cell Phone: 813-507-1726 preacherman@weliever.net web site: http://www.weliever.net blog: http://www.thepreachersword.com
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My friend recently lost his son and the man being hugged by Jesus in this picture looks just like him I would like to know if I can purchase this for my friend
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Reblogged this on ThePreachersWord and commented:
We’re reblogging some past posts this week while we’re on our annual anniversary trip. This one from 8 years ago still speaks to a deep human need. I hope you find it helpful.
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God does forgive. We just need to LET Him!
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