"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". 1 John 1:9
Hi, friend. If you are a human being, just like me, you have felt guilty at least once in your life. Let’s be frank - we feel guilty almost all the time.
Are you feeling guilty for something you have done? Are you feeling ashamed of letting your mind be corrupted by the thoughts you shouldn’t have? Do you regret the way you have lived your life, a Christian you have been? Maybe you said something you didn’t mean to.
I hear you. I know exactly how you feel.
I have been down this road so many times before. I would feel guilty for not obeying my parents as a child, not studying enough as a student, and putting too little effort as an employee.
I would feel guilty for not being a best friend, a caring girlfriend, not surviving enough as a Christian.
Even today, as an adult, a much more mature Christian and finally a follower of Jesus, I still feel guilty sometimes. Why? Where do you go to find the answers to your questions?
I turn to the Word of God for answers. I believe that this is the only source of the truth I can ever find. This is God. He’s the Word, and he is the only one who can give me all the answers I need.
Do you believe that you are God’s creation? Do you believe that He loves you dearly? Do you believe that you are more valuable than any other thing that God created?
He knows your name, the number of hairs on your head. He knew you before you were even born (Jeremiah 1:5). He has a great plan for your life, to prosper you and give you abundant life.
If you know that the God of the universe loves you more than anything else he has created, why do you still feel guilty? Why do you feel ashamed of what you have done?
Don’t you know that God is merciful and gracious? He does not remember your sins, if you are in Christ Jesus, His Son. There is no condemnation for you anymore (Romans 8:1). You have been cleansed and redeemed. God looks at you and doesn’t see what you have done. He sees Jesus in you. You are free. You are loved.
Sometimes, I wonder why I still feel like I am not good enough, even though I know how much God loves me and what Jesus has done for me. I still feel stuck in my emotions.
The answer is found in the very beginning of the creation of Adam and Eve and the reason why they sinned. PRIDE. They were tempted to be like God. They wanted control over their lives and circumstances.
That’s what pride does to you and me every day. Our sinful and prideful nature still manifests itself in us in the form of guilt. We feel guilty because we know we did something that we shouldn’t have and we know that there’s nothing we can do to fix it. It hurts our pride because it makes us helpless. We cannot accept the fact that we are not able to control what’s been done in the past and change it. We cannot forgive ourselves…
But Jesus has already done that for you. He forgave you. Everything you did, do and will do is forgiven. Every single thing.
That's the beauty of knowing Jesus and having Him in your heart, and the power if the truth that sets the captives, like you and me, free. While sinful nature in you may now and then remind you of being a sinner, the Spirit of God in you will always remind you of His grace and His forgiveness.
Don't look back at the past behind you; look ahead to your bright future. Don’t dwell on your past mistakes; learn from them. Don’t pity yourself because you are imperfect and weak; see how great and good God is in your weaknesses.
You have a new life and a new mind in Jesus now.
You are forgiven.
You are set free from feeling guilty.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”,
2 Corinthians 5:17.
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