So many people serve God out of inferior motives, because all they have known are emotions of guilt, condemnation and shame. This only produces a sense of:
Indebtedness and obligation.
Fear of judgment or punishment.
Performance and desire for Reward.
And feelings of: Lack, inferiority, or a low sense of self- worth
Depression: - feelings of isolation and rejection.
The definition for guilt is very much the same as “judgment” It means to be under sentence.
It brings condemnation or to be brought to trial or justice.
The issue of guilt is as old as man him self. The root of our guilt goes as far back as the first people on the earth. They experienced the problem of guilt after eating of the fruit God specifically told them not to eat. Guilt has been part of man’s psychological and emotional makeup ever since.
Guilt is a destructive emotion
There is no emotion that is more destructive than the emotion of guilt, because at its root, guilt is the condition of feeling separated from God and of deserving damnation and punishment.
Constant or consistent guilt in a believer’s life is not conducive to emotional well-being and victorious Christian living.
Guilt will absolutely paralyze the people of God. Yet many Christians believe that it is normal to be weighed down with it
GUILT IS NOT A NORMAL CHRISTIAN EMOTION!
However, none of us can claim that we are entirely free from the influence of guilt. All of us in some way or another are partially motivated by hidden guilt, especially when we consider the present religious system in the world and even in the church.
What is the correct emotional response for not being able to spend time with a loved one? Answer: Longing and missing them.
What is the prevailing emotion Christians should have when we fail to have a consistent time with God? Answer: Guilt and condemnation.
Guilt has its roots in self-righteousness.
The religious system in the church today makes it almost impossible for people to live their lives free from guilt, because we are so totally entangled in works righteousness or self-righteousness. All guilt has its roots in self-righteousness.
When there is guilt in our lives it is a strong indication that we are under law and that we are living legalistic and self-righteous lives. Guilt is one of the most self-righteous feelings or emotions that you can ever experience.
False Guilt
Many people suffer under the devastating influence and affects of False Guilt. This is the guilt that we place on others in order to get them to do what we want. The guilt we use to manipulate people around us.
- Parents to children – Children to Parents.
- Husbands to wives – Employer to Employee. Etc.
Real Guilt
These are the things that we have done, that haunt us. Times were we have violated our conscience through things we have seen and done, crime, abortions, fornication or things we have heard through the various times in our lives eg. military – movies – pornography etc
Shame
Many people have been abused or have grown up in abusive homes that suffer from deep-rooted shame.
Whatever the source of your guilt may be, what God wants guilt free living for you.
Guilt free living is absolutely and exactly what God wants for us as men and woman of God.
We were never created to live in an environment of Guilt, Condemnation and Fear.
- Condemnation – declares us unfit to believe it.
- Guilt – imprisons us to unfulfilled passions and dreams.
- Fear – enforces our failures and shortcomings.
I Jn 4: 18 (The Living Bible) There is no fear in love (dread does not exist), but full grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and EXPELS EVERY TRACE OF TERROR! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment and (so) he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love (does not understand love’s perfection)
I Cor 13:13
- Faith – can see it and believe it.
- Hope – expects it.
- Love – guarantees it.
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Whatever the guilt in your life today, it is not God’s will that you live any longer in it or with it!!!
Freedom from guilt is at the very heart of God’s plan for man, through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Luke 4:17-19
Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 61: 1 – 3 and He proclaims the year of Jubilee when all debts are cancelled, all slaves are freed, and all properties are returned to the original owners.
Jesus’ ministry was not only to set us free from sin, but also to cleanse us of a sense of indebtedness or guilt.
