giving up guilt

Guilt waits behind every decision to rob your joy.  Maybe you actually did something wrong.  Or maybe you just didn't measure up to your perceived set of standards.  Either way, here you are stuck with the weight of guilt dragging you down.  The heaviness can become paralyzing.  Guilt often travels with fear and condemnation.  Their lies are poison.  How could you have done that?  Again? .... No one else struggles with this.... You are a horrible person, friend, mother, wife.... You are a failure....     And on and on the darts fly to the deepest part of the soul.  Guilt is a pit that can threaten to hold you captive forever unless you fight those lies with Truth.

In the book of Romans, we learn that ALL have sinned.  ALL fall short.  ALL mess up.  ALL are imperfect.  ALL.   Three letters that light the lamp of freedom.  You are not unique in your failure.  No one measures up.  That is why we need Jesus.  If anyone could do life perfectly, then we wouldn't need a Savior.  Jesus came to bring destroy the old and bring new rules to the game... to bring new life.  Take a few moments to read and reread Romans 8:1  

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death."

Let that truth sink into the deepest part of your being.  We all have sin in our lives, so humbly confess it to God.  Get to the reason of why you act or think in the way that you do.  Confess your pride, your anger, your impatience, your selfishness, your envy, your hate.  God will ALWAYS forgive you.  Isn't that amazing??  Do you find that truth hard to believe?  I think we often struggle with God's forgiveness because we have such difficulty forgiving ourselves.  

Colossians 3:13  calls us to forgive one another, but a closer look at the text reveals that in the original language "one another"  would also include yourself.  My imperfections should not leave me in a pit of failure but instead remind me that I am forgiven accepted, loved and set free.  When we ask God to forgive us, He does.  So why would I continue to hold on to them?  Is your standard for yourself different than God's?  Are you trying to achieve righteousness in your own strength?  There is no way to break free while clothed in pride.  James 4 shows us that when we submit to God, He gives grace and the enemy will have to flee away from us.  That means when we accept God's Truth, those horrible lies will have to run away.  

Does this mean that you will walk around always happy and smiling?  I don't think so.  Holy Spirit promises to flood us with His joy, but that is not the same as constant happiness.  God has created each of us uniquely.  I personally struggle with so many emotions and find great hope in this passage from 1 John 3

"We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us;  for God is greater than our heart and knows all things."  

God is greater than my emotions.  Hallelujah!!!  We can be free from the weight of guilt, we can trust Him with our circumstances, we can walk in freedom knowing that we don't have to measure up to some standard that we have made for ourselves.  What does God require of us?  The simplicity is often too much for our modern mind to grasp.  Verse 23 of this same chapter lets us in on the heart of God's requirements.... "This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another."   

A few months ago, I was feeling especially beaten down and just an all around failure.  I sat at the top of the stairs of my home.  At the bottom of the stairs hangs a sign that says "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart".  I cried out to God about the mess I had made with my shortcomings.  I was completely overwhelmed until His soft voice answered with this sign.  "Do you love me?".   The words spoke to the core of my being.  With all my soul I answered, "Yes, Yes God, I love you with all my heart!!!"   I hope His answer speaks life to you today, like it did to me that night...   "That is enough"