Developing Inner Strength

Discover the courage to live freely and joyfully in the love of God

STRENGTH IN TIMES OF GUILT

Most people develop their God concept upon the behaviour of their parents. My father died when I was nine months old, and when he died, a little bit of my concept about God was established that said, in effect, "God has left you too." My mother worked full-time, and I spent many hours alone after school. I came to believe, "God is away somewhere with somebody else."

God was remote to me, and He was a hard, harsh God from my perspective as a lonely, anxious, insecure child. He has authority-and in that regard, He was very much like my stepfather: mean, abusive, out to put me down and drive me out.

I had seen God's hand at work in my church and in my grandfather's life to the point that I had the faith to believe in God. I knew the Bible stories well enough to know about Jesus and what He had done in giving His life on the cross. Still, God was such a mystery that I never truly felt He was accessible to me. I had a strong feeling that I needed to be more holy so that God might come closer.

No matter how much I read the Bible, I felt I could have read it more. No matter how much I prayed, I felt I could have prayed more. I felt certain that God was keeping score on every aspect of my behaviour. And the end result was the heavy emotional baggage of pervasive guilt.

Through the years, many people have told me that they have had a similar experience in their lives. They have spent years trying to get good enough for God to approve of them, to perform for God so that He might reward them, and to do enough good works so that they can get over an abiding sense of guilt that they aren't doing enough for God.

The good news of the gospel, however, is this: we are not saved according to our works, but according to the grace of God. We can never earn our salvation. It is a free gift from God. As Paul clearly taught the Romans, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom 10:9-10). No other means has been provided for men and women to be saved other than the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

The provision for your salvation, and for a total forgiveness of your sins and a change of your sin nature, has been made in full by Jesus Christ. There's nothing more you can add to it. You can only receive this free gift of God's mercy and love. The first step toward removing the emotional pain of guilt in your life is to receive God's forgiveness. This means accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and inviting God to cleanse your heart and create in you a new spiritual nature.

Have you come to that point in your life? If not, I invite you to pray today, "Lord, I accept what Jesus Christ did on the cross for my sake. I receive Him as my Saviour today. I accept Your offer of forgiveness. I believe that You are completely cleansing me of my old sin nature and that You are creating in me a new spiritual nature. I receive the presence of the Holy Spirit into my life, and I ask You, Holy Spirit, to help me to live a life that is in complete conformity to that of Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen." In your life, can you point to a time when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and experienced a complete forgiveness for your sinful nature?

What Do We Do When We Sin As Christians?

I would like to tell you that after I received Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour at the age of twelve all feelings of guilt were completely removed from my life. That is not so, however. The emotional baggage of pervasive guilt continued to manifest itself periodically.

This is not to say that my salvation was invalid. I have absolutely no doubt that my conversion was genuine, that my spiritual nature was changed, and that my heart was cleansed and forgiven on that day. What I had to face, however, was what all Christians have to face-that we continue to sin, to break God's commandments, and to give in to temptation, even after we are born again.

In my years of experience as a pastor, I have concluded that most Christians don't know what to do about the fact that they continue to sin after they have had a salvation experience, and they don't know what to do with these "sins." Let's take a look at what the Bible has to say about this. First, the Bible says that after we have experienced gift of grace, our desire for sin diminishes. Paul asked, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" He answered his own question, "Certainly not!" (Rom. 6:1-2). The desire for sin is greatly diminished upon experiencing God's forgiveness.

Second, the Bible acknowledges the fact that even after we are born again, we often err. Paul also admitted to the Romans, "I do what I don't want to do, and I don't do what I want to do." (See Rom. 7:15.) It is in those times that we must come to God, praying, "I'm struggling. I'm not doing well. I'm failing. Please forgive me and help me." Forgiveness is granted to the Christian the moment it is requested. Our feeling forgiven, however, may take some time.

Third, the Bible says that we grow in our understanding of God's grace (see 2 Peter 3:18). The more we become like Jesus Christ and are conformed to His will and likeness, the more we realise the awesome nature of God and how great the gulf is between God and mankind. Our salvation becomes an ever-increasing miracle to us! We have an increasing desire to guard our hearts against the temptations of the devil because our salvation is so precious to us.

Fourth, the Bible teaches that each and every time we have an awareness of our sin, we are to ask for God's forgiveness. There never is a time when we should feel that we are "beyond" God's ability to forgive us. I have met Christians who say, "Well, I've sinned so many times since I was saved, I'm not sure if God will forgive me one more time," or "I've committed a sin even though I knew better. How can God forgive that?" The fact is, God forgives all our sin. We cannot fathom such mercy, but it is real nonetheless.

Surely if Jesus taught His disciples that they were to forgive other people up to "seventy times seven" for sins committed against them, our heavenly Father is able to forgive us that many times and more!

What the Word Says What the Word Says to Me

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." (Matt. 18:21-22)

For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. (Psa. 86:5)

Letting Go of Your Past

Once you have requested God's forgiveness, the next and vital step toward being free from guilt is to let go of your past. In the course of my ministry, I have met countless people who are haunted by their sins. They have not been able to forgive themselves and let go of their past.

The Bible tells us that once we have repented of our sins, God both forgives them and forgets them (see Isa. 43:25). It is not the Lord, therefore, who reminds you of past sins that you have already confessed to Him. Rather, it is the one whom the Bible calls the "accuser of our brethren," the devil (Rev. 12:10). When you are confronted with images or memories of sins you have already confessed to God, it's time to say, "I refuse to accept these thoughts. God has already forgiven me of that. I'm letting this go right on by. Devil, you'll have no hold on my mind."

What the Word Says What the Word Says to Me

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins. (Isa. 43-25)

For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. (Psa. 103:11-14)

Mistakes. We must always remember, also, that sin and mistakes are different from each other. A sin is a choice to do something that we know is against God's will. It is a wilful act - one that is calculated, thought out, anticipated, and fully conscious. It is deliberately flying in the face of what we know is right in God's eyes.

A mistake is usually spur of the moment, unplanned, and made without forethought of consequences, an error in judgement. We are to own up to our mistakes and learn from them. We are to make amends if we have hurt anyone in our mistakes. We are wise also to ask God to help us not to make the same mistake again.

We must not, however, beat ourselves up emotionally over the mistakes we make. To err is human. As long as we are alive, we are going to make mistakes. False guilt. Let me also make a statement about false guilt. False guilt occurs when a person feels the guilt that appropriately belongs to another person.

This kind of guilt is often experienced by those who are the victims of abuse or rejection. Parents of adult children who rebel against God's Word also tend to feel this guilt. The victims feel that they must have failed in some way, and thus, they have contributed to the rise of the abusive behaviour, rejection, or rebellion. Therefore, they feel guilty for having caused the sin of someone else. If you are holding on to false guilt, you must let go of it. Ask the Lord to free you from all guilt that is associated with sins that aren't your own. In your life, have you ever struggled with guilt over mistakes? Have you had an experience with false guilt? How has the Lord dealt with you in these cases?

Guilt for Having "Missed God"

A number of people seem to feel that they have missed something that God wanted them to do-that the Lord called them to do something for Him and they failed to do it. They feel guilty as a result.

I encourage these people to ask themselves two questions. First, ask, "Was that call really of God, or was it something of my own desire?" If the call was not truly from God, God does not hold a person responsible for fulfilling it, even though he may have made a promise to do so.

Second, ask, "Did I have a direct opportunity to fulfil that call and turn away from it?" In some cases, people feel a rather vague call of God toward a particular area of service or ministry. But an opportunity has never presented itself in a concrete, specific way for a person to become involved in that area of ministry. They should feel no guilt for having failed God.

If, however, you feel that you had a specific call from God and a specific opportunity to fulfil it, but you did not, today is the day to turn to the Lord and say, "Lord, I'm sorry I disobeyed You. I ask You to forgive me. I put myself before You today. Whatever You want me to do from this point on, I'll do it." Take courage from the life of Jonah! He had a very specific call, and he turned his back on it. God gave him a second chance, and He'll give you a second chance too.

What the Word Says What the Word Says to Me Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, And the branch that You made strong for Yourself. . . Revive us, and we will call Upon Your name. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts, Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! (Psa. 80:14-15, Psa 80:18-19)

Whether it is pleasing or displeasing, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God. (Jer. 42:6)

In what ways are you feeling challenged to obey the Lord?

Guilt That Arises from a False Concept of God

A pervasive feeling of guilt-not related to a specific sin, mistake, or lack of obedience is a feeling that many people seem to have. I, too, have experienced this feeling in the past. This feeling has nothing to do with what a person knows to be true about the Scriptures and about what it means to be saved or forgiven. It is a feeling that is rooted in our perception of God.

As I shared with you earlier in this lesson, I grew up in an environment in which I believed God to be a very harsh, hard judge. I felt that I had to be perfect in order for God to accept me and love me, and since I knew I wasn't perfect, I had feelings of guilt that I had failed God and that I continued to fail Him daily.

What was wrong here was not my sinful state-that had been changed the moment I accepted Jesus as my Saviour-but rather, my concept of God. It took years for me to acquire an accurate concept of God and to come to the point where I could feel genuine love flowing between God and me. I'm not talking about just saying, "I love You" to God. I'm talking about deep, affectionate, intimate feelings of love both for and from God.

If you are struggling with a false perception of God, I encourage you to take a long, hard look at the Gospels. See Jesus in action! Jesus is a perfect reflection of God the Father. He didn't do anything that was contrary to the nature and desire of His heavenly Father.

Jesus was tender with children. He extended forgiveness to sinners whom the rest of society was ready to stone to death. He healed all the sick that were brought to Him. He loved others so much He was prepared to die for their sins so that they might live with God forever.

Your abusive parent is not the image of God. . . the teacher, coach, or other authority figure who treated you harshly is not the image of God. . . Jesus is! It is Jesus who longs to wrap His arms around you and say to you, "Come with Me to visit My Father. He can hardly wait to meet you." God understands your frailties and weaknesses, and He loves you with a deep, abiding, unchanging love in spite of them. God's love for you is unconditional-He does not place any "ifs," "when's," or any other qualifiers on His love. Don't' limit God's capacity to love. It is infinite, and it extends to you in all situations, circumstances, and conditions.

Refuse to trust your feelings about God that you learned or acquired from earthly examples, most of which are inaccurate. Trust, instead, the truth presented in God's Word. Base how you feel on the sure foundation of God's love s revealed by Jesus. How do you feel about God? Are your feelings in line with the truth of God's Word?

What the Word Says What the Word Says to Me (Jesus said), "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." (John 14:9)

(Jesus said), "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)

We have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides In love abides in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

We love Him because He first Loved us (1 John 4:19)

You and only you know if you have a right understanding of God and a right relationship with God. If you are not "right" with God, you can be. The Lord stands ready at all times to forgive you and to receive you fully into His presence. The Lord's desire for you today is that you be free of guilt and sin. All you need to do is to take Him up on His offer to carry the load of your guilt and sin for you. What new insights do you have into the provision of the Lord for all forms of guilt?

In what ways are you feeling challenged in your spirit today?

Congratulations! You have finished a Bible study on developing inner strength.