People around me: "What for?"
Me: "I don't know? For whatever happens, I guess... it's all my fault anyway, so I'm just giving a preemptive apology..."
This is is an expression of how I feel like pretty much all the time...for I know I will do something that I will regret because in my wrong-doing, I will inevitably hurt someone on the way.
Sigh...
Guilt has been a constant visitor in my life, and it's time that I kick it out of my house for its stay is long-over-extended!
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3: 18
Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10: 9
Romans 10: 9
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8: 3-4
I believe and I confess that Jesus IS the Christ who died for me as the One and Only truly acceptable sin offering, once and for all. And as He takes up His Throne as the King and Lord of my life, guilt has no room in me as sin has no power over my soul. I am a sinner, yes, but I am forgiven by the Blood of the Lamb.
The guilt I feel is false-guilt, like author Holley Gerth points out in her book, You're Going to Be Okay. This false-guilt we carry is for things that God never even asked of us in the first place. It is a deception of the enemy who tries to put us back under the law...the law that Christ redeemed us from long ago! The enemy knows that if he can succeed in placing the heavy yoke of the law back on our shoulders, we would walk away from the Lord because the guilt would be unbearable and it would make us feel terribly inadequate and unworthy of being in His presence. And that's a lie! Every time we find ourselves walking away from the presence of God we can bet all we've got that we are just falling for another of the enemy's schemes.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free! Galatians 5: 1 Remember? And that freedom includes freedom from guilt.
Now, let's be clear, right? I's not like okay, no guilt, let's do whatever. That's not what a guilt-free life implies. A guilt-free existence means that we don't have to be burdened by the guilt of unforgiven sin. If we do, we deny the power of Christ's sacrifice. If we continue to feel guilty for our sins, we doubt Christ's ability to forgive them when He died for us.
Like Holley Gerth says in her book, we don't have to bear guilt, what we do need is conviction. (102) We have to obey the Lord's Commandment to
That is our marching order. And if we live lives trying to fulfill this commandment, there is no guilt necessary. Of course we will fail upon occasions, more often than not if you are like me...but we are covered by God's Grace and God's Love... and there is no fear in it! (1 John 4: 18) So when the Spirit points out our wrongs, it is not so we quiet and go hide our light under a bushel. On the contrary, it is to keep us humble and to make us speak out to all around about the wonders of God's love, who chooses to call His own, even someone as wretched as me.
Me: "I'm sorry. I'm a sinner and I will disappoint you and probably hurt you. But, by God's grace I'm under the New Covenant that was sealed by the Blood of the Lamb. So I am here to testify that even a sinner like me could be redeemed, and so can you."
No comments:
Post a Comment
It would be great to hear from you! Let me know what you think.