Should You Say “Goodbye” To Guilt?
I read THIS article the other night and it got me thinking about guilt. Here’s part of it…
We feel guilty if we don’t give money to the Church or spend the right amount of time in prayer. Unfortunately, many believers are driven to do these things—pray, tithe, attend church, remain sexually pure—by a rabid sense of duty.
This ought not to be. While these things are good things and goals to be sought after, and while guilt should be a natural reaction to sin from a regenerate heart, the Christian faith should never be driven by a sense of duty, guilt or entitlement. Instead, we should be driven to lives of holiness by passion—passion for God, passion for the lost, passion for the Gospel, passion for each other.
I was wondering what role you think guilt plays in your life. Is there such a thing as good guilt?
Someone told me in college there is a big difference between conviction and condemnation. I agree, but often still have a hard time telling the difference between the two in my own life.
What about you?
62 Comments:
I agree with the article, but because I grew up as a PK in a baptist church, I felt like most everything I “had” to do was out of guilt.
Times have changed so much for me, and I realize it’s so much more about ‘relationship’ than about ‘doing things’ because you are suppose to.
I’m with you, though – if I was completely honest I would say – sometimes it IS hard to tell the difference between conviction and condemnation.
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Kristie
6:08 am
there are times when i feel that the guilt is more like conviction. be it feeling like i should pray more or help more-even to the point of feeling guilt for not doing enough for my kids. they both say that they get what they need. but when you have the chance to go out w/o them, i fel guilty. even though i know it’s good for everyone-i still feel it. so far i don’t think there’s any permanenyt damage.
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carrie-anne
6:20 am
I wonder Pete, do we spend so much time living in guilt that we don’t move beyond it? Everything becomes an issue of guilt: not enough times with the kids, not enough time praying, not enough giving, serving, church, etc. Before long, that’s all we’ve done, lived in guilt and not tried spending time with the kids, giving more, serving more, attending more…
I once was a pastor…seems like a million years ago…I wonder if I helped enforce those thoughts in those I led.
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Steve Heartsill
7:07 am
I would love to hear the awnser to this question. The way sermons have been structured at my church has always made me feel guilty, it’s always jesus did this and this and heres how you should be doing this too. I’ve never really ever felt not guilty after learning about god, with the obvious exception of when I’m doing those things mentioned properly. So yeah, I would love to hear how you could not feel guilty… Maybe what I feel is good guilt, guilt that makes you want to change, but that guilt has never felt good to me. Bleh who knows.
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Holly
7:08 am
I am afraid that many pastors think the only way to get their people “in line” or to do thing is by laying the guilt on them. But I found guilt to be a temporary and lousy motivator. Unless something is a conviction (passion) born from deep in the soul the energy or desire to do whatever it is will vanish. I spent way too many years and way too many sermons trying to motivate by guilt. I talk much more about passion these days.
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Bill (cycleguy)
7:25 am
I feel guilty all the time about all the things Steve mentioned. Sometimes it’s good, I feel convicted, and I’m like okay God….I need to do, or not do, that again. Other times, it’s just unrealistic. I hear working Mom’s say how they feel so guilty about being away from their kids. I’m with my kids 24/7 and I still feel guilty that I don’t do enough. That’s unrealistic. I’d love to know how to live a guilt free life.
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Emily Rowe
7:28 am
I remember I could do two out of three. I could tithe, volunteer/attended church regularly, and abstain. For the longest time I couldn’t do three out of three. The last part of being able to accomplish this was surrendering my will once again to Christ. I was courting my wife and didn’t simply want to be under a stretched elastic, I wanted to truly grow closer to Christ.
For a long while I didn’t understand the meaning behind each of these on the directive to fall in line. To summarize I knew someone put a dollar in the plate for my salvation. Someone volunteered for my spiritual health, and the body of Christ truly requires fellowship. And thirdly, God’s gift of love can be so damaged falling in love and attaching ourselves through the act of sex rather than loving someone as God intended. That took a while, thankfully through prayed and more prayer I am not under elastics anymore.
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lance
7:51 am
Guilt to me is eating cake at midnight knowing that I shouldn’t. As for conviction and condemnation, I don’t know.
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jason
7:55 am
@Steve Heartsill, I often wonder the same thing about my leadership.
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Pete Wilson
8:16 am
Very thought-provoking as usual. Couple thoughts.
1. Yes I believe there is a good guilt. Good guilt is a great tool used by the spirit to point out areas that we need to work on…even though guilt is painful – God is way more concerned with our transformation than our comfort.
2. However, when we ALLOW good guilt to turn into discouragement and are afraid of the pain/guilt and so never fully confront that issue – then it turns into bad guilt. Guilt is only as good as the action it causes.
3. There also is a bad guilt. Guilt planted to us by our peers, by the world, by satan quite frankly… Guilt that comes AFTER we’ve asked for forgiveness and repented is bad bad bad guilt. The spirit does NOT make us feel guilty once we have confronted the issue. Jesus gave us that opportunity… our sins/failures/guilts are wiped away and we start fresh daily. He allows us to have guilt but then have it TOTALLY gone. If we are living our lives feeling guilty about something all the time… we are leaving the devil an inch somewhere. Something isn’t right.
Guilt was one of my biggest issues for SOO long, something I still battle so I’ve had a lot of healing in this area. I’ve learned that everything is going to be okay. Really, everything is going to be okay. That *I* am not in control, I am not perfect – my job is not to be everything to everybody – my job is to abide in Him and allow Him to be everything to everybody.
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Randi :)
8:20 am
one more thing.. I just read this excerpt from TouchPoint Bible and wanted to put it here to add on to my point # 2…. Sometimes we ignore the guilt because a) we are scared of the pain b) we don’t believe in the power of Jesus being away to wipe it all away c)our pride…. .so here’s an excerpt more on pride & guilt….
But pride is a powerful force in our lives. Pride tells us, “All is well! You’re OK!” Pride denies the reality of sin; in contrast, guilt warns us that all is not well. Guilt acknowledges the presence of sin and urges us to confess it. So these two—guilt and pride—battle it out in our souls. When guilt wins, a sin that separated us from God is removed (through confession and repentance). When pride wins, we remain isolated from God’s grace, love, and care. There may be a high cost to removing guilt, but there is a higher cost to keeping it.
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Randi :)
8:23 am
Hey Pete, great topic. I make a pretty clear distinction between guilt and conviction and it centers around the result of the feeling.
Guilt is debilitating, it causes us to think that God could never love us or anyone that could do “that.” Guilt leads us away from God and paralyzes us in shame and doubt. In my opinion, when I define guilt in this way, it is straight from the pit of hell.
Conviction, on the other hand, brings the sins in our lives to light while also pushing us to repent before God. Conviction leads to a stronger relationship with God as we acknowledge our mistakes and seek his forgiveness.
Many times, I believe, what starts out as Godly conviction ends up as evil guilt. We keep feeling bad/shame over something that God has simply let go because he’s forgiven us. Much like Adam and Eve in the garden, we hide from God. The difference is that we’ve been forgiven and have no need to feel the shame that guilt brings.
Just my 2 cents! Again, great topic!
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Trey Kelly
9:13 am
As I’m reading the comments, I’m noticing how often guilt is felt over things we “should” be doing NOT over what we’ve done. Isn’t this backwards?? It seems to me, true guilt should lead to repentance, over what we’ve done, not over what we “think” we should be doing.
@Bill: “I have found guilt to be a temporary and lousy motivator.” Is guilt supposed to be a motivator? I don’t see God using guilt to motivate people in the Bible, at least not the kind of guilt we are talking about. He called people to repentance by pointing out their sin. Did He motivate people using manipulative tactics, such as making them feel guilty? Not as far as I can tell. I can’t imagine Jesus being compelled by guilt…He was moved by compassion. He ws led by love for people…and a desire to obey His Father. The same should be true for us. Maybe guilt is a problem when we are looking too much at ourselves and our desire to live up to God’s standards, instead of keeping our eyes on God and our need for Him. My thoughts anyway!
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Sue
9:16 am
I’ve struggled with this concept since I became a Christians six years ago. Before that, I barely struggled with societal guilt let alone Christian guilt (not a good enough mom, I don’t make enough money, I’m not a non-profit crusader). Since I’ve given my life to Christ I think my guilt level quadrupled and I don’t think that was ever God’s intention. No where in scripture does it say “Come to me and you will feel guilty, you will abide in guilt for the rest of your lives. (I didn’t tithe this month, I’m not happy in my job, I don’t respect authority, etc.) Maybe it’s the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin, since I started letting Him. ha ha. I’m working hard to let go of guilt and pursue the full life Jesus wants me to live.
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natalie
9:24 am
I believe there are two kinds of guilt. God guilt (sin) and life quilt (not always sinful). Someone mentioned “spending more time with the kids.” I would use missing an important appointment. These are things that I feel guilty about that God could care less about. The sad thing is sometimes I wallow around in that kind of guilt (life) more than the lust, envy, etc…(God guilt). I am reading “The Shack.” For those of you that have read it: last night I read the part where one of the three dropped the bowl and they all three burst into laughter. Unfortunately, the broken bowl makes me feel more guilty than actual sin.
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jodyduncan
9:33 am
@Sue — great ideas. I don’t think God is manipulative… but I do believe the spirit convicts and convicts a lot.
I guess on my writing above — I say, “good guilt” — but I guess a better word for it is conviction.
but you’re right – if it’s a good or bad thing is who you are focusing on when experiencing it.
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Randi :)
9:39 am
@Sue… P.S. yes we should be like Jesus and always do what’s right and perfect and live only out of compassion and not need conviction to help us point out of failures —- but don’t we need it? because we’re sinners? I will never be so in line and perfectly connected with God as Jesus was — that is why He gave us the Spirit to be with us and help us, right? Jesus didn’t need the Spirit.
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Randi :)
9:43 am
and I could be so so so so so way off here – I am just throwing out ideas to get some feedback
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Randi :)
9:44 am
Technical question —- how come you all have pictures up? Is it because it’s a wordpress thing and I use blogger?
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Randi :)
9:55 am
@Randi, It’s because we’re cool and you’re not! Just kidding, I have no idea. Anyone else know?
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Pete Wilson
10:07 am
I’ve always felt more comfortable with the terms conviction vs. condemnation. Guilt almost always seemed to fall in the later category. The difference between the two being where they took me. If I felt compelled to repent, submit, humble myself, release control, etc. it was conviction. If on the other hand, it caused me to pull away from God it would be condemnation.
I don’t guess the word itself matters, as much as where it takes me. When dealing with people I might just as easily say guilt vs. encouragement (good guilt).
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critzpastor
10:08 am
I’ve been struggling with guilt my whole life. Not a cliche…literally, as long as I can remember. And frankly, I’ve begun to accept it as a part of life. I’ve had a few (okay, cliche here) “mountaintop” experiences where I’ve felt that burden lifted, but it hasn’t lasted long.
Good guilt? I have no idea.
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Paul J.
10:09 am
back @ PW so THAT’s what it means to be cool…. I’ve always wanted to be cool
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Randi :)
10:21 am
I am so proud that I actually know an answer to a question on here!!!!
The picture is courtesy of “Gravatar”. That’s short for “globally recognized avatar.” Go to http://www.gravatar.com, register for a free account, and upload a pic. Then, any site that has Gravatars enabled (it’s based on the email address you enter) will be able to show the pic that you select.
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Steve Heartsill
11:04 am
I totally agree with Sue that I have guilt over things that I “should” be doing, instead of things that I have done.
I found the below blog post yesterday that deals with “The Rapture” and how it was used to guilt kiddos into being good. I got a few giggles out of it, but found it disterbing that parents would use it to guilt their kids into good behavior. I would love your opinion on it.
http://www.joyunexpected.com/archives/2008/08/ive_got_the_joy.php
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Ladybird
11:10 am
That’s a difficult question, almost a matter of semantics. There is NOW therefore no condemnation….guilt? But there is the convicting power of the Spirit that could be interpretted “guilty conscience” which is good since it leads to repentance.
Motivation by “guilt” is not a good thing…
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Jack Hager
11:11 am
For many years I was condemned because of others’ convictions which led to a life driven by duty and guilt. Thankfully God freed me from that life!
Yes, I still feel guilty at times, but I have to do an inventory to see if my guilt arises from my old habit of living based on duty or if it is because I have that regenerated heart and I feel conviction for an area that is not totally given over to Christ. It is a tough battle, because it is easier to go back to what you’ve known and so I struggle with it still at times, but I have seen the less my faith life is driven by duty the more passionate for Christ I become.
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ncarnes
11:12 am
@ladybird, I skimmed the article. It’s unfortunate in my opinion when parents use fear and guilt to try to manipulate their kids into good behavior.
I talk with adults weekly that still have huge misconceptions of God based on things they were taught as kids.
Someone once said that for every distortion you have about God there is a corresponding consequence.
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Pete Wilson
11:18 am
Personally, I don’t think Jesus meant for any of his words or actions to make people feel guilty. He wanted us to strive to be a great, loving community, and he tried to tell us how to go about it and what habits we should leave behind in order to be successful. He wanted us to live in a heaven on earth. So I feel like guilt is useless. If we are motivated by guilt and a sense of wanting to earn our way to a future heaven by ticking off requirements A, B, and C, then we haven’t really heard the words or known the man who said them. We need to throw off the guilt and hear the message: “ALL are loved by God, now pass it on!” Again, this is just one person speaking her opinion, and I admit I’m a person who still struggles periodically with guilt over past mistakes. But in my heart I feel often picture Jesus being exasperated with me for coming back to it all the time–for not stepping away from the guilt and enjoying fully the rich life he sacrificed himself to give me!
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Jan Connair
11:22 am
You know, I had to sit and think about this because I don’t think my parents and church put “the fear of God” in me, but I was so afraid that any time I got into trouble or even disappointed someone it meant that it was on my “permanant record” with God. (Can you say perfectionist at an early age?) While I wasn’t one to tell others what to do or stop others from whatever they chose, I was the good girl who never bent the rules.
It’s good in that I really don’t have any major regrets, but I will admit that sometimes I wish I would have gone a little nuts now and then. We’re supposed to screw up and know it’s human and we’ll be forgiven. I definitely took everything to heart and wasn’t sure about the being forgiven part. People in my life judged, and it made it hard for me to realize that God really does wipe your slate clean and not hold onto past wrongs.
You know that saying… “You know you’re Catholic if you feel guilty for not feeling guilty”? It’s true.
Been there done that. Now I am just really trying to live life right while not being so terribly hard on myself if I get it wrong.
sara
http://www.gitzengirl.blogspot.com
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sara
11:35 am
@Jack Hager – I liked your synopsis/comment
@Steve – Thanks!!!
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Randi :)
11:38 am
So…Randi…will this make you cool now?
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Steve Heartsill
11:41 am
I don’t think my parents used guilt or fear to manipulate me to good action…. BUT I believe they did show and teach me to have the desire to please Him and I believe I wanted to please Him partly because they put the fear of God (reverance, awe, human understanding of His holiness and total power) into me and I’m so so thankful for it. Proverbs 31:30
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Randi :)
11:44 am
@jodyduncan… I SO get what you’re saying. When I read that part of the book I also thought how great it would be if I could laugh off my own mistakes instead of feeling so bad about them (like the bowl).
Isn’t it funny how if a child or friend broke something of mine I would laugh and say it’s ok … and mean it. But if I’m the one to screw up, it’s somehow an inexcusable thing. If only we could be as gentle with ourselves as we are with others.
sara
http://www.gitzengirl.blogspot.com
PS: On an unrelated note, I just signed into gravatar (because who doesn’t want to be cool???) and just noticed that the nickname you use on that site shows up as your name here. Just a warning…
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gitzengirl
11:49 am
I don’t think my parents used guilt or fear to manipulate me to good action…. BUT I believe they did put the fear of God into me (fear of God meaning reverance, awe, some sort of human understanding of His power and holiness) and I believe that it has been part of the reason why I want so badly for Him to delight in me and why I desire to please Him.
It wasn’t guilt they taught me about — it was just how incredibly awesome He was and how deserving He was of my best effort to be the best me I could be…. worthy of my focus and attention basically. I never felt ‘scared’ like He was going to punish me though, I wasn’t made to feel guilty when I did mess up because they also taught me about Jesus and that it would be okay when I messed up… but having that ‘fear’/'awe’ is what makes me take the step forward to get back up when I mess up instead of moping around feeling guilt and feeling discouraged. I don’t know how they did it… but I sure am really thankful they instilled that in me… Proverbs 31:30
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Randi :)
11:53 am
Conviction promotes relationship with God…Condemnation seperates us from God. Conviction relates to current issues…Condemnation ususally relates to our past; things God has already forgiven us for. Conviction helps us to grow…Condemnation stunts growth.
Our motivation should be love not guilt.
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cbgrace
11:53 am
my browser messed up — ignore comment before gitzengirl’s
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Randi :)
11:53 am
Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit, condemnation comes from the devil.
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Paula
11:55 am
@Steve — YES!! I am finally going to be cool in about…. 2 minutes! I can’t wait to call my husband. He also has always wanted me to be cool
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Randi :)
11:55 am
test comment to see if my pic is working…
oh no – to be cool – do I have to do a picture of me?
and now my link back to my page isn’t working…. and my smiley face next to my name is gone — if this is what cool is – I don’t think I want to be cool
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randijo
12:08 pm
AND my picture isn’t working!!
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randijo
12:08 pm
ohhh my pic is working now!!!
I JUST got an email in my box from “God’s Daily Promises”.. you wouldn’t believe what it was on… GUILT!
here’s what C.S. Lewis has to say about guilt:
(1.) Remember what St. John says: “If our heart condemn us, God is stronger than our heart.” The feeling of being, or not being, forgiven and loved is not what matters. One must come down to brass tacks. If there is a particular sin on your conscience, repent and confess it. If there isn’t, tell the despondent devil not to be silly. You can’t help hearing his voice (the odious inner radio), but you must treat it merely like a buzzing in your ears or any other irrational nuisance. (2.) Remember the story in the Imitation, how the Christ on the crucifix suddenly spoke to the monk who was so anxious about his salvation and said, “If you knew that all was well, what would you, today, do or stop doing?” When you have found the answer, do it or stop doing it. You see, one must always get back to the practical and definite. What the devil loves is that vague cloud of unspecified guilt feeling or unspecified virtue by which he lures us into despair or presumption. “Details, please?” is the answer. (3.) The sense of dereliction cannot be a bad symptom, for Our Lord Himself experienced it in its depth—”Why has thou forsaken me?”
C. S. Lewis in Letters to an American Lady
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randijo
12:15 pm
Pete, once again great conversation. I just had a member in my church ask about the same thing. My response was, we are guilty of sin when we do those things that are not pleasing in the sight of God. Therefore guilt and conviction play hand in hand when it comes to sin.
On the other hand, the Bible never speaks of us needing to be guilt driven, purpose drive, etc. We are to be driven to do those things in our lives by the motivation to bring glory and honor to the Father. That is our purpose in this life, period.
So, guilt plays an important role in our lives when it comes to sin. However, it should never find a place in our life where it becomes the driving force behind what we are doing for God.
Just some thoughts. What do you think?
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Scott
12:24 pm
Do you guys think sometimes we mistake guilt for our conscience? I think what Scott is talking about sounds more like your conscience telling you something is wrong before you do it… while you’re in the decision making process. But guilt is what you feel after you’ve already done something you wish you hadn’t.
Or is that just semantics and I took too many literature deconstruction courses?
sara
http://www.gitzengirl.blogspot.com
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gitzengirl
12:32 pm
I’m started to get a bit bogged down and confused haha and I don’t know about the wording — but I think that you can even be guilt-driven before you act because the fear of guilt can make you make certain decisions I guess…
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randijo
12:34 pm
@cbgrace, I love your distinctions between conviction and condemnation.
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Pete Wilson
12:44 pm
I’ve always used this phrase to help guide me in the difference between conviction and guilt:
Guilt paralyzes, conviction motivates.
Works for me.
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Cindy Beall
12:57 pm
I’ve realized that typically when it’s condemnation I feel guilty b/c of what man will think of me. Conviction is when I am concerned what God will think about me. Does that make sense. And when it’s condemnation I feel unworthy and unloved. Not that way with conviction.
There is a verse that my pastor uses a lot. Of course, I don’t know the reference off the top of my head. But it’s the verse that says, “If you love me, you’ll follow my commands.” He talks about how it can be taken the wrong way. Many people read that and think that God is a “rules” God. It’s all in how you read it. But what God is saying is if you love me you will automatically keep my commands, or rather, you’ll want to keep my commands.
Does that make sense? After writing that, it doesn’t relate a lot to what you were talking about but it kind of does. Regardless, good post. Thanks for sharing.
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tps
12:59 pm
I agree- CBGrace. Our motivation should be love and not guilt.
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Cari and Michael Dugan
1:00 pm
Conviction feels like love because it is coming from my perfect loving Father, and causes me not to “try” harder but to just let Him love me more, causing me to love more. Even when God uses others in my life to show me where I miss Him, it is always gentle (to me anyway). However, condemnation feels like a heavy load that is impossible to bear, shameful, and ‘self’-directed causing me to “try” harder to be more of what I’m “supposed” to be.
At the end of the day, even on what I would call a “good” day, the only righteousness I have to offer God, is the rigtheousness of His Son. I love that grace abounds!
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crosspointfitness
1:00 pm
I love everybody’s comments…
to clarify when I said that He was worth me ‘trying’ to be the best me I cuold be — I’m not talking about necessarily any action – but about disciplining myself to focus on Him. to be kingdom minded and eternal focused not of this world. To allow Him to change me requires me to have discipline to allow Him. Matthew tells us that the way to life – to God – is vigorous and requires total attention and discipline and requires serious obedience. Which is why I believe the conviction (I have been using the word guilt) of my actions that brings me to ask for forgiveness and repent and move a step closer to godliness is a graet thing.
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randijo
1:08 pm
Maybe I’m old school, but a sense of duty can be better than nothing when we’re weak. Shame, guilt, duty…have all helped me stay on the path more times than I can count. And since deviating from that path could hurt others as much or more than me, I’m sure those ‘others’ are happy I was restrained…whatever the motivation.
And I have to say in a world drowning in the touchy-feelies and over-arching sentiment, a little duty could really come in handy.
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Sally
1:18 pm
I see guilt in the spiritual part of my life as somewhat akin to pain in the physical part. If I step on a tack, pain is there to notify me that (a) what I’ve done is bad, and (b) not to do it again. Dr. Paul Brandt, who worked for many years with lepers, said that pain was one of God’s great gifts. I submit that guilt is too. If I sin, then (a) I’m going to feel bad, and (b) I’m going to try not to do it again.
God often speaks to me through my conscience. Conscience doesn’t just look backwards – it looks forwards as well. So if (on the one hand) I’ve hurt someone, my conscience (looking backwards) doesn’t only tell me that what I did was wrong, it also tells me that I should correct it. If (on the other hand) I’m contemplating a course of action that might hurt someone, my conscience also (looking forwards) tells me to avoid doing it. I suppose the physical/spiritual analogy mostly breaks down here, but in a way I see conscience as a small part of vision – the part where if I’m looking at the tack, I know I shouldn’t step on it; and if I did step on the tack, I look back and find it (probably after a few choice words!) to put it away so I don’t step on it again.
What I want to know is: who left all those blithering tacks lying around in the first place!?
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Steve
1:23 pm
conviction comes from the Spirit and you know it to be true in your heart /soul — condemnation comes from the world the flesh and the devil often with the “you need to” phrase tagged to it. Be careful of the “you need to” deliverers.
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aunt celeste
2:40 pm
i go back to the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. so if we are saying that conviction comes from the spirit, then i think you need to look at the outcome of the conviction. is it just making you feel bad, remorseful, or eating you up inside? or do you see a light at the end of the tunnel or feel peaceful about knowing you need to change or realize that it will make you holier? i don’t know if that makes sense.
Piper just did a series called “The Utter Relief of Holiness”. Relief- not guilt. You should check it out. God wants us to be holy, not guilty. I don’t think.
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Linnae Hoppe
4:02 pm
I have been acquitted. Who can condemn me?
I look into my heart and see a divine courtroom scene. A boatload of evidence has been presented that shows beyond a doubt that I am guilty. When I am asked if I have anything to say, I admit my guilt and heartily express my sorrow for having so badly missed the mark. I even mutter some heart-felt and hopeful promise about turning about – changing direction.
The very first time this courtroom scene played out in my life, before the echo of my remorseful words had faded, my acquittal and freedom were announced. And I was speechless at what Christ had done for me. I’ve been told that at this same moment there was thunderous rejoicing in heaven. How cool is that?
Sadly, as the perpetrator of various and sundry subsequent sins, I have returned to this courtroom more times than I wish to count. And yet each time, my wonderful, spectacularly perfect Defense Attorney (who, by the way, does all of this pro bono!) stands between my conviction and my punishment. This continuous flow of grace makes these visits to the courtroom less about guilt and more about counseling. More about issue-awareness and course-correction. There is relief, renewal and still more rejoicing. Oh yeah, and peace. Sweet peace.
The Wiley One hates all this. From time to time the wretched worm will show up – when court is not even in session – when I’m peaceful and not dwelling on the past. With a sneer he sticks my smelly mile-long rap sheet under my nose and spouts bile about my felonies. He wants to know what I plan to do about them. “Just how do you expect to pay for all this crap?,” he wants to know.
I used to listen. I used to even consider long-term repayment plans with interest-bearing good works. But my Counselor has since advised me not to enter into these discussions with that pitiful excuse for an angel. Instead, Jesus told me I need merely present my acquittal papers – the ones written in his blood – the ones marked, “paid in full.”
And so, sure, guilt has its place – but only in the divine courtroom. And in that place, I have been acquitted. Outside of that courtroom, who can condemn me? No one. I am free.
[Reply]
Mike in Milwaukee
6:13 pm
When I became a Christian, I had a lot of guilt that first year or two. I asked the pastor and his wife a lot of questions, like: “Is it okay to wear makeup? …Take birth control piils? …Buy expensive furniture like leather couches? …Let my kids participate in Halloween? I’m not kidding. Everything was under my scrutiny. I re-evaluated everything. My pastor was very helpful. He said, “I want you to learn what it means to have Freedom in Christ.” That has stuck with me all these 18 years.
I agree that not all guilt is bad, as many of you have said.
For some reason I think of this passage:
~ 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 ~
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
These days I welcome the guilt which is legitimate and repent quickly, but I reject the guilt which is about things over which there is no need to apologize or feel guilty. Hurray for Freedom!
[Reply]
andrealudwig
11:46 pm
Guilt is a necessity. Like Ying & Yang. We should not make it for ourselves, but instead happen upon it when all is quiet. Of course balance must be maintained with everything, guilt is just another feeling to learn from, and to remember.
[Reply]
telepathicpebble
2:26 am
A sense of duty should not be tied directly to religion. Feel guilty about what you do to or do not do for your fellow man. Feel guilty if you walk by a homeless person on the street and don’t givethem the quarter in your pocket as you walk into Starbucks. Feel guilty about yelling at your kids when you had a bad day at work. God doesn’t require a time limit on prayer. The bes way to honor God is to do you best in everything you do every day and ask forgiveness from those around you when you don’t measure up.
[Reply]
unitedwelay1
7:45 am
Hey – I recently did a post on this exact topic,(Two Kinds of Regret) after just reading http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1233_2_Kinds_of_Regret_Godless_and_Godly/ from John Piper’s site and it made me view regret in a much more clear, resolute way. A summary – guilt/regret is normal, what is important is what results from it. A constant weight of guilt can motivate goodness that is empty and careless, deprived of appropriate passion and more obvious to observers of our life than we think.
[Reply]
theepiphany
11:43 am
Let us keep in mind that God has created mankind with a conscience and for good reason. Man naturally and instinctively knows when we have done something sinful – thus we know that we are guilty before God. But those who have repented and are living holy before God should no longer be under guilt – as for what is there to be guilty of?? However, when we do stumble the Holy Spirit is there to convict us and led us back to repentance. The difference between conviction and condemnation is when God brings us under conviction he tells us specifically what we did wrong and how to rectify the problem. The Enemy brings condemnation by making broad statements and never giving us a solution on how to repent or resolve the problem. Depending on if your sinner or saint – guilt can be a good thing. For if a sinner no longer feels guilt within their heart, they most likely have a hardened heart and that is a dangerous thing!
[Reply]
Preston
11:47 am
Gosh there are allot of posts so ill keep mine short…
I think that as a Christian we should focusing much more on the things mentioned…
we should be driven to lives of holiness by passion—passion for God, passion for the lost, passion for the Gospel, passion for each other.
i think we get seriously caught up on what we are doing wrong and what we have to fix rather than striving to more like Christ…
hence we can end up getting caught up in a downward spiral of depression and guilt that it actually stops us doing what is right and what God has planed for use..
please check out my blog.. http://trwest.com/blog/
[Reply]
Timothy
4:17 pm
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