Guilt’s Snare

A sense of Guilt CAN COMPLETELY stop you from reaching your God- given destiny. The apostle Paul was a murderer of Christians, but when he converted he lived in joy and peace, freed from all guilt and the shame it brings. God’s plan for you includes peace and joy. He wants you to experience freedom!

Guilt has a double edge and is capable of BOTH helping or hurting us. God’s holiness is the Christian’s standard, and when we sin, the feelings of regret and guilt that plague us come from a consciousness of having violated that standard. People try to deal with this awful load of guilt but have shoved it aside because the pain of it drags them down; regret tears them apart as they ask themselves, “Why did I do that? Why didn’t I choose a different path?

Sometimes we’re innocent victims and harbor a false sense of guilt. The bible assures us, “Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows everything” (1Jn 3:20).

When we’ve done wrong and feel guilt, it spurs us to do the right thing. If we can make it right, God expects us to do it, and that clears us of guilt. But what if impossible circumstances prevent that? I was in that trap and miserable.

Children are capable of carrying guilt. I mistreated a family member behind his back when I was a child. I was afraid and tried not to think about it. The sense of guilt caused nightmares. I thought that person might even come back from the dead and “get me.”

When at age 20 I received Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, I did everything to make amends to anyone I’d hurt, but I couldn’t fix this one – since the person had died. One day during my personal study, I discovered He was my guilt offering! “…the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Through faith in His work, it was GONE. The same thing happened with the fibromyalgia I suffered with for 10 years. Through study, prayer, and faith in His work, one day it was GONE.

Moses taught that the Lord is long suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquities and transgressions. The priests offered sacrifices on the altar for forgiveness of the peoples’ sins, but this only covered over the sin and guilt. When a person broke the law,  he was required to bring a guilt offering.  “It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the LORD” (Leviticus 5:19).

Aren’t you glad that Jesus fulfilled those holy demands of the law for us? How did He do this? “Now you have been brought near to Him (God) through the blood of Christ. For Christ Himself has brought peace to us… in His own body on the cross… He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations” (Ephesians 2:12-15).

Most of us know He took our sin but we haven’t realized that He took our guilt, too, to ensure we live in peace!

The chastisement needed for our peace was laid on Him (Isaiah 53). He was our guilt offering, removing all our guilt and shame.

Get up, believe and receive His finished work on the cross. Receive God’s forgiveness! Forgive yourself and make amends, then treat guilt like the enemy it is.

Refuse guilt. Throw it out in the name and authority given us in that powerful Name; the name of Jesus, our guilt bearer.