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My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. Psalm 38:4
Next to anger, guilt is perhaps the greatest crippler of all time. When you consider the fact that fear can often be caused by guilt that only adds to the drama! Guilt comes into our lives when we feel ashamed for an action that we’ve done. Sometimes that guilt is ‘warranted’ because we all make mistakes. Sometimes that guilt comes from the accusations of others. Even if we are innocent of the accusation we can feel guilty about it.
People try to deal with guilt in a variety of ways in order to ease the pain. Some try to ignore the guilt and pretend that whatever it is that makes us feel guilty never really happened. That’s called denial. If I ignore my guilt long enough it will be less painful. That’s not really true, but we believe the lie. Suppressing guilt only keeps it at bay for a time. Eventually it comes back with vengeance.
Others try to deal with guilt by soothing it with a variety of things like new relationships, new toys, new jobs or surroundings. We focus on external things in order to try to ignore the internal pain we feel. When we tire of the old things we simply replace them with new in hopes that we will be satisfied. Using denial and external things to try to cover up guilt never work.
Sometimes people use the ‘blame game’ to deal with their guilt. “Yes, I did that but if he/she hadn’t done this, or if she/he HAD done that, I wouldn’t have done what I did.” Placing blame on others takes the attention off of me and puts it on others. It’s like creating a diversion. The problem with this is that people eventually see though our antics and we end up being the only one that believes our story. People who use the blame game seldom realize that they are the main problem in the healing process.
Following ‘social trends’ rather than God’s Word can also be used to cover guilt. “Everyone else is doing it so it must be okay.” We surround ourselves with people who, like us, haven’t dealt with their guilt. Since they appear to be comfortable in what they do we feel comfortable as well. There is sort of a comfort in mutual misery.
Even religion can be used to cover guilt. We do something wrong and go to God for forgiveness. He willingly forgives us of all our sins. However, we feel so bad about what we have done that we try to do ‘things’ to cover the pain. These can be very good things like church attendance, Bible Studies, volunteering, even being in ministry to try to cover the shame and guilt of our sin. When we struggle with a recurring sin we tend to increase our ‘religious activity’ to deal with the pain. Nothing relieves that pain though and so we revert to the blame game. “It’s not working. It must be Gods fault, or the churches fault, or the fault of those so-called Christians.”
There is nothing you can do to free yourself of the weight of guilt you carry. The longer you carry it the heavier it grows. The more things you try to remove the guilt from your life the heavier your burden grows. The more you regret the more you fret. Sometimes people are so weighed down by the burden of trying to remove the guilt from their lives that they become physically, emotionally or mentally ill. Some even commit suicide to try to remove the pain.
Jesus has the answer to your guilt and the burden you carry. It’s not found in religion. It’s not found in church. It’s not found in relationships, toys or activity. Freedom from guilt comes through Jesus alone and the grace He offers. Hebrews 10:22 says “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
Jesus not only cleanses the sin, he wants to cleanse the feelings of guilt you carry. Satan and others will want to try to continually remind you of your past mistakes. Tell them that Jesus took care of that on the cross. When guilt attacks take it directly to Jesus. Let Him remind you that YOU ARE FORGIVEN. No questions. No second thoughts. NO MORE BLAME. Say to yourself, ‘Because of Jesus I am not only forgiven of my sin, I am cleansed of my guilt. I will no longer allow guilt to control me and weigh me down. I AM FREE.’
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I thank you that you look on my heart and not on my actions. I am so sorry for the pain I’ve caused myself, others and you. I’ve made decisions that continue to be hurtful. I continue to struggle with sin. My guilt is ever before me. I ask that once and for all you search my heart and reveal any unconfessed sin. Then I pray that you not only forgive me of my sin, but that you cleanse my guilty conscience. Empower me to live free of guilt regardless of the number of times other people try to remind me of my past. From this day forward I resolve to rely on you to free me from guilt. Amen.
“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
From the very beginning of time, before the Creator-God formed the world from vast nothingness, He sought relationship. That’s why he created the world, so that he could enjoy the beauty of the trees and mountains and the pristine sea. He created man so that He could share His love with someone in His own image and together they could enjoy relationship. He created woman so that man would have an equal partner, a helper, a confidant, so they too would be able to enjoy-relationship.
Jehovah approaches the prophet Isaiah with a message to His people Israel. Because of their sin they had been forced into exile to endure the harsh rule of foreign kings. The land promised was desolate. The people were mistreated. Yet in the midst of their exile they still refused to change their ways.
In spite of their refusal, or inability to follow His commands Jehovah’s message to Israel, and to us, is this. Forget about the past mistakes. Forget about your poor decisions. Forget about the countless times you did what you knew you shouldn’t do. Come to me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.
He says to us,”I, yes I alone” because no one else is qualified to forgive us. Our sin is not against other people. Our sin is against Him. We sin against Him when we hurt other people (knowingly or not). We sin against Him when we ignore His commands or take the relationship He offers us for granted. Yet in the face of all our weakness and rebellion He offers us a clean slate.
This forgiveness isn’t a result of anything we did, or can do. His forgiveness isn’t even for our sake. This forgiveness is for His benefit so that He can once again enjoy the relationship He so much longs to have with us.
This forgiveness is not temporary of conditional. He states that He will ‘blot out your sins’. To blot out gives the image of a ledger book with a debt to be paid. A debt far too large to be resolved. A hopelessly large debt. Yet He takes, as it were, a huge rubberstamp and stamps the word “PAID” across the ledger in bold, blood red letters. Your sin will never more come to mind. He won’t as you travel the journey look back and say “You don’t learn do you? You did this five years, three months, two days and four hours ago too!” Nope. Won’t happen. It’s gone. Forgotten.
What a marvelous promise. What a wonderful hope. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it. It’s all because of love. Don’t let sins of today or of the past tie you down. Ask Him to forgive you and let it go. Don’t let fears of the future keep you from pressing on to work towards your dreams. Refuse to allow others to keep you imprisoned by reminding you of your faults. Father God loves you and made you just the way you are. He wants to help you.
PRAYER: Father God, once again I must come to you. I confess to you that even though I’ve been here before, I am still struggling with sin in my life. I’ve ignored you, failed to walk in relationship with you and even doubted you exist at times. Yet I’m tired of the pain. Tired of the guilt. Tired of the anger I can’t control. Please forgive me for the sins that plague me and help me to move on because of your wonderful, undying grace. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NLT)
When the Lord came to Jeremiah and spelled out the direction his life was going to go he gave him two great promises that are hard to comprehend. First of all, the creator/sustainer of the universe told Jeremiah (and us) that He knew him intimately, even before his conception. God knows every hidden corner of our mental, emotional, and spiritual lives. Our needs, our desires, our fears. He knows us.
The second thing He tells us in this verse is that, again before we were even conceived, He had set us apart for service. Just as He appointed Jeremiah to be prophet before his birth, He has appointed each of us for service to him.
That doesn’t mean we’ll all be pastors or missionaries or great, famous spiritual giants. Simply stated, God has a personal plan for each of us in life. He’s appointed us for that plan. Individuals are appointed, not groups. Since God knows us so intimately then the plan that He has for us is beautifully, custom fit just for us according to our gifts, talents, and abilities. His plan isn’t necessarily custom fit to our comfort zone! He may ask us to do things we don’t think we can do, but He knows us best and will never ask us to do things we are unable to do.
Because of His great love for us, God also gives us the right to choose. If we grow in relationship with Him we will know the right way to go. The problem is, each of us is human and tend to stray, or rebel from the way God wants us to go. When we wander away from God does that mean His plan can’t work or that we can’t come back? NEVER!
Just as God is never surprised with the birth of a child, He is never surprised by our failure to follow His guidance. It doesn’t matter how far you have strayed from God, nothing you do can keep Him from fulfilling his plan in your life. We may think our failures are a side trip but with God there is no such thing as a side trip, only learning experiences.
The important question each of us needs to ask when we’ve wandered from God is NOT “How did I get here?” That part isn’t the most important thing. The most important question we should ask ourselves is, “How can I use this experience to glorify God and uplift others.”
The Lord God of Heaven, the creator/sustainer of the universe loves you. He not only had your emotional/spiritual/physical make-up planned before time, He set you apart to serve Him. The best way to do that is to continue growing close to Him and trusting Him no matter how many times you fail. He will never give up on you or the plan He personally designed just for you.
PRAYER: Father God. Once again I’m in awe of your greatness and loving compassion. I’m so weak, so frail and so rebellious. I want my plans to succeed even when I know Your way is best. Please empower me with your Holy Spirit to walk close to you so I can see what you want from me on a daily basis. During those times when I stray I ask that you would show me the way back to you and to the perfect, pleasing plan you have for me. Thank you for loving me the way you do. Amen
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 