Do you serve God or your feelings? When you ask God to forgive your sins, do you believe that your sins are forgiven and move on, or do you continue to feel guilt and condemnation for days and weeks after?
Guilt is a huge problem for Christians. We know and believe that God forgives our sins. We tell each other people that God will forgive their sins, but so often we ask for forgiveness but still keep feeling the guilt. Why is that? Some people may be sadly addicted to guilt due to past issues of neglect or abuse. Sexual abuse in childhood is particularly guilt-inducing. We were told to keep secrets, dirty secrets, it feels wrong and shameful and we assume that the secret is about us, not the perpetrator and his crimes. These children have been threatened with all sorts of consequences if they do not keep the secret and secrets like these become very heavy burdens right into adulthood as they persistently eat away at us. We always feel guilty, it's our way of paying for what we did wrong, in our warped thinking that is. We believe that due to the way that society now works that we have to pay for our sin, our warped sin. This huge guilt needs lifting from us and we need to realise that feelings don't have to be permanent.
But, as long as you keep believing in your feelings you will keep on experiencing guilt, but when you begin to believe the Word of God over and above your feelings, they will begin to lose their power and authority over you. Guilt only comes from sin, so if (perceived)sin is removed then guilt has to be removed too logically. So if there is no sin then there is no guilt, a tool which the devil uses to torment us with. Don't let the devil keep a hold on you!
It is possible to never feel guilt if you have true faith in the Word of God. You sin, you repent and seek forgiveness, God forgives you instantly and you move right on. This is ideally how repentance should work. Make the decision to not be guilty of sin or perceived sin. Jesus already paid the price for us on Calvary, you don't need to add your guilt to His sacrifice. He did a perfect job on the cross. So if you have done something wrong and asked God to forgive you and have repented but still feel guilty, then that is the devil messing with your emotions. You need to learn enough of the Word of God so that you are in a position to quote back to the devil, letting him know that you know what the truth is. Jesus spoke back to the devil many times in Luke 4, follow His example. There is so much more power in the Word of God than the devil could ever dream of having and we must use this to our advantage.
Guilt causes people not to move forward with their walk with God. Guilt is like a treadmill, once you are on it and there is no one around to press the stop button you are pretty much stuck on there. Call out to God to press that button for you and to guide you how to climb off the machine.
We need to start afresh and confess every single one of our sins, no matter how big or small until absolutely everything is out in the open with God. From that point He will continually cleanse us from our sins, move on and forget about them, "Whom the Son has set free is free indeed."
When Jesus was crucified he forgave everyone of all their sins, everyone at that time, everyone not yet been born, everyone that had committed a sin, everyone that had not committed a sin yet, ergo, the issue of sin has very much been dealt with in the most perfect of ways. All we need to do is trust in that. In Romans it says, "We have been delivered from the power of sin among men", that's quite clear to understand.
As a believer, guilt does not have to keep us in never ending torment. We are forgiven by the blood of Christ and there is no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Many victims of abuse think that God is mad at them, they have either come to this conclusion themselves or it has been brainwashed into them by their abuser and because they are used to receiving sexual or physical punishment from their angry abuser they expect to receive punishment from God too. That will never happen. God is not surprised by anything about you or what you do, He knew all about you before you were even born and he loves you unconditionally.
When people feel that they are not loved by God it is a great tragedy, because being a believer and truly knowing that God loves you unconditionally and accepts you for what you are is the beginning of the healing in your life. There is nothing you can do to stop God from loving you, but you will not feel it until you believe it. Knowing that God loves you is better than feeling that He does as once a feeling becomes an ingrained belief or a revelation it is nigh on impossible for the devil to change that. And once we truly know then we do not need to question and debate it every day. It becomes an accepted fact like the sun will rise in the morning, Jesus loves me, the sun will set on a night. God will help you accomplish this when you study His Word regularly.
Be determined to heal and get over your feelings. It is possible for anyone who is a follower of Christ. Stop giving in and believing the negative feelings. Learn to manage them and not let them manage you. Emotions are important and need to be kept healthy, nurture them and minister them and keep them in good health.
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