Guilt

Just read the most interesting excerpt from How to Listen to God (by Charles Stanley) about guilt.  It distinguished between "true guilt" which stems from sin against God and "false guilt" which the devil places upon us by accusing us of not living up to God's standards.  It indicated that, if our sins are confessed and we are not involved in disobedience, then the accusing voice is from the devil which is inconsistent with God's word.  God’s word promises:  "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1.  Since the accusing voice (the one that reminds us of all our sins even after confession and repentance) is totally inconsistent with God's word, then it is false and "is a dart of satanic condemnation."

The excerpt pointed out that false guilt is the devil's deception.  When God forgives us, we are forgiven!  His forgiveness settles the matter once and for all!  Interestingly, the article stated that those of us whose hearts remain guilt-ridden are self-centered because we are so concerned about what is wrong with ourselves and how to get our acts together.  (Ouch!).

Another excerpt from a Beth Moore book indicated that living as if we're unforgiven (under guilt and condemnation) once we've been forgiven is a sin itself.  It is the sin of unbelief.  It is slapping Jesus right in the face and saying "what you did on the cross wasn’t enough; it really didn't matter at all."  (Ouch!).

Anyway, it seems to me that many of us from the South were raised by good ole Southern guilt.  Our families, friends, preachers and teachers whipped us in line with it.  Something about it felt almost righteous.  Guilt was our mark as Southern martyrs.  And so we carried this burden of guilt over, not only past mistakes, but also pending decisions.  When it finally got too much, we placed it at the foot of the cross with our prayer for deliverance.  But, at the “Amen,” we picked our guilt back up, returned it to our back where it belonged, and carried it on with us.  And though professing to be Christians - - Christ followers - - our lives did not reflect the freedom, joy, and peace they were supposed to.  Our lives did not entice and attract unbelievers struggling in sin to the cross like they were supposed to.  When the lost looked to us, they did not thirst for what we have.  They felt bad enough already.

But God is good.  All the time.  If we confess and repent of this sin of unbelief (guilt), he will forgive that too.  He will even forget the sin.  (“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”  Isaiah 43:25).  And he mandates that we forget it too.  (“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.”  Isaiah 43:18).  He promises to do new things - - to carry us to a new place.  (“See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:19).

Anyway, this is where I am.  This is my present struggle.  To confess and repent of the sin of unbelief - - of living under false guilt.  To leave this one at the cross and to move on into the new things God is doing in my life.