STRENGTH IN TIME OF GUILT

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9)

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” (Philippians 3:13)

Many people develop their concept of God based upon the behavior of their parents. A person who I was counseling told me that when he was nine his father died and when he died, a little bit of his concept of God was established that said, in effect, “God has left you too.” His mother worked full-time and he spent many hours alone after school. He came to believe, “God is away somewhere with somebody else.”

God was remote to him and He was a hard, harsh God from his perspective as a lonely, anxious, insecure child. He saw God as the one who had authority and in that regard, He was very much like his stepfather; mean, abusive, out to put him down and drive him out.

He had seen God’s hand at work in church and in his grandfather’s life to the point that he had the faith to believe in God. He knew the Bible stories well enough to know about Jesus and what He had done. Still, God was such a mystery that he never truly felt He was accessible to him. He had a strong feeling that he needed to be more holy so that God might come closer.

No matter how much he read the Bible, he felt he needed to read more. No matter how much he prayed, he felt he had not prayed enough. He felt certain that God was keeping score on every aspect of his behavior. And the end result was a heavy emotional sense of guilt.

Many people have had a similar experience in their lives. They try to get good enough for God to approve of them, they perform for God so that He might reward them, they try to do enough good works so that they can get over an abiding sense of guilt that they aren’t doing enough for God.

WHAT TO DO WHEN WE SIN

Many people believe that after they are saved all feelings of guilt are completely removed from their life, but that is not so. The sense of guilt will continue to manifest itself periodically. This does not mean that you are not saved. You were cleansed and forgiven the day you gave your heart to Jesus. What you face is what many Christians have to face, that we continue to sin, to break God’s commandments and to give in to temptation. They don’t know what to do about the fact that they continue to sin after they are saved and they don’t know what to do with these “sins.” Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say about this.

First, the Bible says that after we have experienced salvation, our desire for sin diminishes. The desire for sin is greatly diminished upon experiencing God’s forgiveness (Romans 6:1-2). The Bible acknowledges the fact that even after we are saved, we often slip up. It is in those times that we must come to God, praying, “I’m struggling. I’m not doing well. I’m failing. Please forgive me and help me.” Forgiveness is granted the moment it is requested. Our feeling forgiven, however, may take some time.

The Word of God teaches that we grow in our understanding of God’s grace (II Peter 3:18). The more we become like Jesus and are conformed to His will and likeness, the more we realize the awesome nature of God and how great the gulf is between God and mankind. Our salvation becomes an ever-increasing miracle to us! We have an increasing desire to guard our hearts against the temptations of the devil because our Salvation is so precious to us. Each and every time we have an awareness of our sin; we are to ask for God’s forgiveness. There never is a time when we should feel that we are “beyond” God’s ability to forgive us.

There are some who say, “I’ve sinned so many time that I don’t think God will forgive me one more time,” or “I’ve committed a sin even though I knew better. How can God forgive that?” The fact is God forgives all our sin. We cannot comprehend such mercy, but it is real nonetheless. Surely if Jesus taught His disciples that they were to forgive other people up to “seventy times seven” for sins committed against them, God is able to forgive us that many times and more (I John 1:9, Matt. 18:21-22, Psalm 86:5).

LETTING GO OF YOUR PAST

Once you have asked for God’s forgiveness, the next step toward being free from guilt is to let go of your past. There are many people who are haunted by their past sins. They have not been able to forgive themselves and let go of their past. The Word of God teaches us that once we have repented of our sins, God both forgives them and forgets them (Isaiah 43:25). It is not God who reminds you of past sins. Rather, it is the devil, whom the Bible calls the “accuser” (Rev. 12:10). When you are confronted with images or memories of sins that have already been forgiven, tell the devil, “I refuse to accept these thoughts, God has already forgiven me of that Devil, you have no hold on my mind” (Isaiah 43:25, Psalm 103:11-14).

We have to understand that sin and mistakes are different from each other. A sin is a choice to do something that we know is against God’s will. It is a willful act, one that is calculated, thought out, anticipated and fully conscious. It is deliberately flying in the face of what we know is right in God’s eyes. A mistake is an urge of the moment, unplanned and made without forethought of consequences, an error in judgment.

We are to face up to our mistakes and learn from them. We are to make compensation if we have hurt anyone in our mistakes. We should also ask God to help us not to make the same mistake again. We must not beat ourselves up emotionally over the mistakes we make. To make mistakes is human. As long as we are alive, we are going to make mistakes.

False guilt occurs when a person feels the guilt that appropriately belongs to another person. This kind of guilt is often experienced by those who are the victims of abuse or rejection. Parents of teenagers who rebel against God’s Word also tend to feel this guilt. The victims feel that they must have failed in some way and thus, they have contributed to the rejection and rebellion. Therefore, they feel guilty for having caused the sin of someone else. If you are holding on to false guilt, you must let go of it.

GUILT THAT ARISES FROM A FALSE CONCEPT OF GOD:

A persistent feeling of guilt, not related to a specific sin, mistake, or lack of obedience is a feeling that many people seem to have. This feeling has nothing to do with what a person knows to be true about the Scriptures and about what it means to be saved or forgiven. It is a feeling that is rooted in our perception of God.

Like the person that we mentioned at the being, he believed God to be a very harsh, hard judge. He felt that he had to be perfect in order for God to accept him and love him and since he knew that he was not perfect, he had feelings of guilt that he had failed God. What was wrong her was not his sinful state, that had been changed when he was saved, but his concept of God.

If you are struggling with a false perception of God, I encourage you to take time to study the Bible. See for yourself how God really is. God understands your frailties and weaknesses and He loves you in spite of them. God’s love for you is unconditional. Don’t limit God’s capacity to love. It is infinite. Refuse to trust your feelings about God that you learned or acquired from man, which are mostly inaccurate. Trust, instead, the truth presented in God’s Word. Base how you feel on the sure foundation of God’s love as revealed in His Word (John 3:16-17, I John 4:16, 19).