Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
PROGRAM D-7299
If you struggle with feeling guilty a lot, I have a practical, biblical suggestion to help you live free from guilt. First, sit down and make a list of all the guilts you struggle with, the big ones and the little ones. Don’t skip any of them, even if they seem trivial. This list is just between you and God, and he knows what you’re thinking anyway, so put them all down.
Then, make a notation by each of those guilts as to whether you think it is true or false. If you think that you really are to blame, then put a capital T. But if you believe a guilt to be false and undeserved, then write a capital F.
If you’re not sure, stop and pray about it. You might even ask someone else you trust, because sometimes we can’t be as objective about ourselves as we should be. You may tend to be too hard or too soft on yourself.
Now, separate those guilts you struggle with into two lists: True and False
Look at each one of these guilts you’ve identified as “true,” and ask yourself the following questions about each one of them:
- Is this an area of disobedience, where I know am I not obeying what God has clearly shown me?
- If so, why have I refused to obey God? What fears or stubbornness on my part are keeping me from doing what I know God wants me to do?
- What exact steps will I have to take to get rid of this “true” guilt?
- Do I want to get rid of it?
- Have I tried in the past to obey God in this area and failed? Why?
- Have I gone to God for forgiveness and know that I have been forgiven?
- Have I been forgiven and changed in this area, yet the guilt seems to linger on? If so, then cross it off your list and write beside it, “Forgiven; no more guilt.”
If you conclude your guilt is deserved, you will not have any peace until you allow God to deal with it, confess it, and change. I encourage you not to hesitate in dealing with these things. It may appear that the action required is too drastic, too costly. But nothing is more costly in the long term than to refuse to deal with known areas of sin or disobedience. And the longer you refuse to confront and deal with it, the more guilt you have and the harder it is to get rid of. You just make your own life so much more difficult by harboring that sin in your life. Really, the only smart thing to do is to get rid of “true” guilt by obeying God and accepting the forgiveness he gives.