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How can we get rid of false guilt? The first and most important step in getting rid of false guilt is to recognize it. Once you know it’s not deserved, it’s much easier to put it out of your mind.

The way we drive out wrong thinking is to replace it with right thinking. When you’re dealing with false guilt, you must, by a set of your will, push that wrong thinking out of your mind. This is done by faith and in obedience to Scripture.

Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. When we are feeling guilty undeservedly, we are allowing our minds to be filled with thoughts that are not true and certainly not lovely. So, you push those thoughts out with true and lovely ones.

Start praising God for Jesus. Isaiah says we are kept in perfect peace when our minds are stayed on the Lord (Isaiah 26:3). Start counting your blessings. Begin thanking God for the good things in your life. Refuse to allow the thoughts of false guilt to have a place in your mind. Enjoy the forgiveness you have received from Jesus instead of continually living in regrets!

If false guilt has become a regular pattern in your thought life, this will be a battle for you, because your enemy will not quickly relinquish control of your thought life. But James 4:7b says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Keep remembering that you can stand up to the false guilt and declare you are no longer under its power. I pray that you will take the steps necessary to live free from that nagging and debilitating guilt which has kept you in bondage far too long. God doesn’t send us on guilt trips. He wants to relieve you of all that guilt you’ve been carrying. So, let him do that for you.

[Mary has written a book on this topic and it’s on sale this month.  Click here for more information about Why Do I Always Feel Guilty?]