This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
-- Colossians 2:14
(This is part two. For context, please first read part one. To help distinguish, I cleverly titled them Pt.1 and Pt.2)
In the last post we addressed BEING guilty and the incredible depth of grace that removes our guilt. There is however, another and deceptively dangerous side of guilt - FEELING guilty.
When we are redeemed by Christ we are completely free. Our guilt is removed. Our debt has been paid.
In the last post we addressed BEING guilty and the incredible depth of grace that removes our guilt. There is however, another and deceptively dangerous side of guilt - FEELING guilty.
When we are redeemed by Christ we are completely free. Our guilt is removed. Our debt has been paid.
Whom the Son sets free, is truly free.
-- John 8:36
And yet, from time to time many (most) of us struggle with a sense of guilt. The shadows of our past close in. Or recent failure draws the curtains blocking the sunshine of grace.
Guilt.
It is an ugly word.
Guilt can burden.
It is an ugly word.
Guilt can burden.
It can oppress.
Guilt can shut us down...
Guilt can shut us down...
Guilt and fear are cousins. We feel guilty when we fear we do not measure up; when we fear we are not worthy; when we fear we are not loved; when we fear our failure will cause God and others to turn their backs.
The self-defeating insidiousness is that we sometimes find pseudo-comfort in our guilt. (That was a weird sentence, but may be worth a re-read.) The outward whimsical expressions: "Well, that's just how I am..., I'm no saint..." or "I just suck," are simply covers that lay like a tattered blanket trying, and failing, to bring some kind of warmth to the pain beneath. They fail. We are not designed to live feeling guilty.
There is a sorrow according to the will of God that produces repentance without regret,
leading to salvation. But the sorrow according to the world produces death.
-- 2 Corinthians 7:10
True freedom is found in living beyond regret - without being weighed down by guilt. When Jesus nailed our record of debt to the cross, he crucified guilt. It is only we who choose to resurrect it.
As a redeemed person you are a saint; albeit, usually a messed up saint. You are free, though you sometimes stumble. Your guilt list, past present and even future is overwritten in the blood of Christ with the words:
I love you.
Debt paid.
Debt paid.
It is finished.
Freedom!
And the record of wrongs written beneath is no longer legible through the scarlet words of love.
God, you nailed it! And I am free...
For now,
D
