Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
PROGRAM D-7296
GUILT! Oh, how I hate that word. It seems that everybody I know—including me—is hounded with guilt. Let’s look at how we can live free from guilt.
My daughter is grown now, but I was a working mom from the time she was eight years old. And as I think back over those years, the one emotion that comes flooding back is guilt. Guilt because I couldn’t be the perfect traditional mom. Most mothers have that kind of guilt, especially workplace mothers.
Then there’s been guilt over my past life, over things I’ve done of which I’m ashamed. Those are the two big guilt trips that I’ve faced in my life.
But daily I struggle with other smaller guilts, like if I don’t get everything done that I intended to do, I feel guilty. I feel guilty about not praying as much as I should, or not doing things for other people like I should. And if anyone says anything critical to me, I immediately take on guilt. It seems that guilt lurks at every corner, waiting to pounce on me. Can you relate to that?
Now, think about this: How does guilt affect us? When I’m feeling this guilt in my mind, thinking thoughts like: “Something must be wrong with me or everyone would love me.” Or “I should have written her a note.” Or “A listener wrote to tell me they didn’t like what I said. Oh, dear, I must have said something wrong.” Then what does that guilt do to me?
I’ll tell you: it discourages me. Whenever I take guilt on, I want to quit. To run away. I feel like giving up. Then it becomes a Catch 22 situation, because the more guilty I feel, the more discouraged I become, which de-motivates me and I don’t do what I should do. Therefore, I have more to feel guilty about, and that in turn makes it harder for me to do anything right.
You can see how guilt, left unresolved, can send you into a downward spiral, resulting in deep depression and discouragement. We need to live free from guilt, and God wants us to do so, too. He does not intend for us to carry guilt around; he came to free us from guilt. It’s very important if we want to be effective disciples of Jesus Christ.
But how do we live free from guilt? Frankly, I think it’s a life-long process, but one we can get better at all the time.