June 26, 2001
We were at a funeral when we heard someone say that they seldom go to funerals or church because “the preacher always makes me feel guilty.”
No one likes guilt. It steals both peace and sleep. Yet guilt is as vital to our well-being as pain. Pain tells us our body is injured or sick. Guilt tells us to stop and consider our actions.
Both are built in signals that protect us from physical and moral danger yet they can malfunction. My oldest son lost two fingers in a sawmill accident. Sometimes he feels pain in those fingers yet they are gone. This “phantom pain” is not legitimate.
Sometimes guilt is not legitimate either. When my nephew died on a trip away from home, my brother said, “I should have driven him there myself.” As we talked about it, he realized that he had no reason to feel guilty. He knew his son was dying, regardless of the trip. Taking that trip or having his dad with him on it would not have changed the inevitable.
Also, we can be trained to think our actions are wrong but they are neither illegal or immoral. A friend has huge pangs of guilt over spilled food. He admits that when he was little, his mother scolded him at the slightest accident, making him feel that spilling food was deliberate bad behavior. While his head says this guilt is silly, his emotions poke his conscience.
Illegitimate or false guilt makes us beat ourselves with regret over things that are simple mistakes, or unavoidable and out of our control. True guilt is different. It relates to moral choices we make and things we can change.
True guilt convicts us when we do things that are against an outside standard such as civil law and God’s moral laws. Whether we rob a bank or say unkind, careless words, or neglect to do something we knew we should have done, we can feel pangs of conscience. These feelings are supposed to direct us toward change and help us to think, talk, and live upright, moral lives.
Real guilt comes in two varieties. The Bible talks about the remorse we feel when we do wrong and get caught. We may be sad, mad, or otherwise upset but that is as far as this kind of guilt goes. It creates an uproar but we do not change.
The other kind of guilt is a “sorrow that leads to repentance” or a turn away from whatever we did toward changed behavior. This guilt is different from simply being sorry we got caught because with it we realize we have displeased God — and we did not want to do that. We are sorry because we are hurting ourselves and our relationship with Him, so we take steps to live differently.
This makes sense. If we get a painful sliver under our skin, we don’t take painkillers but look for ways to remove the sliver. Yet some people who feel true guilt avoid tackling the real issues. They try to get rid of the law or God (and say He is dead). They try to eradicate those guilty feelings with excuses, rationalizing and denial. This may numb their conscience but it does not set them free.
God’s solution for guilt is confession, forgiveness and cleansing. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Running away from guilt makes as much sense as trying to cure a broken leg with pills. While we might be able to cover some kinds of pain for a while, covering guilt never works. It builds life-limiting scar tissue and blocks our relationship with God and others.
Lord, repentance is never a one-time activity. Even the godliest of Your people must constantly listen to their conscience. Help me then, to always hear what guilt is saying to me. If it is true guilt, may I never try to cover or excuse it but bring it to You for forgiveness so You can change my life. Amen.
Showing posts with label confession. Show all posts
Showing posts with label confession. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Friday, December 8, 2017
Staying Healthy .......... Parables 677
July 18, 2000
Hard physical work leaves me stiff and sore but after a week of not doing any hard work, I am stiff and sore anyway. My body demands some TLC. I try a warm-up, some light exercises, a walk, and some stretching. It really helps. “Use it or lose it” is definitely true when it comes to flexibility and muscle tone. A body needs exercise.
There are several ways to keep physically fit. We realize the value of a good diet, rest and exercise, but do we know how much our emotions affect our body?
For instance, love produces endorphins and a sense of health, but anger reduces our white blood cell count, making us more susceptible to illness. God may have had more in mind than our spiritual health when He said, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”
Other sins affect our body too. First Corinthians says, “He who sins sexually sins against his own body.” Widespread venereal disease and AIDS prove the physical harm caused from disregarding what the Bible says about sexual purity. But any sin can affect our health. Israel’s King David, wrote Psalm 38 as a prayer. He was not specific about his sin but very specific about the harm it caused his body:
“Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin . . . . My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly . . . . My back is filled with searing pain . . . . I am feeble and utterly crushed . . . . My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.”
My body experiences negative changes from guilt also. I am fatigued, sad, unable to concentrate or be creative, and sometimes I get sick.
While not all illness is related to unconfessed sin, the Bible tells us to consider it. James 5 says, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
This passage offers a spiritual cause for some illnesses. It also offers a cure. Deal with the sin by confession because it promotes healing.
Confession simply means to agree with God. If He says we have done something wrong or evil and have broken His law, we need to acknowledge that what He says is true and right.
However, verbal confession is not a panacea or a magic formula based on the words we say because God is not a genie we rub with the right words every time we want something. He knows our hearts and the reasoning behind what we do. Our words must come from a genuine sense of guilt and a heartfelt need for forgiveness. He looks for sincerity before He “forgives our sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.”
If sin prevents full health, my body may be healed through confession, but it is not made perfect. No matter how well I take care of myself, my body will always have some limitations. Yet I do have hope. Someday “Those who are of the earth will bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”
God promises those who trust in Jesus Christ that they will someday have a body like His resurrected body. Sin and death will no longer have power to drag us into illness. Anger will no longer affect our white count. We will be delivered from it and from every other limitation of living in a sinful world in these imperfect bodies.
In the meantime, eat right, drink lots of water, get good exercise and rest, and trust in the Lord with all your heart; it is good for a body.
Hard physical work leaves me stiff and sore but after a week of not doing any hard work, I am stiff and sore anyway. My body demands some TLC. I try a warm-up, some light exercises, a walk, and some stretching. It really helps. “Use it or lose it” is definitely true when it comes to flexibility and muscle tone. A body needs exercise.
There are several ways to keep physically fit. We realize the value of a good diet, rest and exercise, but do we know how much our emotions affect our body?
For instance, love produces endorphins and a sense of health, but anger reduces our white blood cell count, making us more susceptible to illness. God may have had more in mind than our spiritual health when He said, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”
Other sins affect our body too. First Corinthians says, “He who sins sexually sins against his own body.” Widespread venereal disease and AIDS prove the physical harm caused from disregarding what the Bible says about sexual purity. But any sin can affect our health. Israel’s King David, wrote Psalm 38 as a prayer. He was not specific about his sin but very specific about the harm it caused his body:
“Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin . . . . My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly . . . . My back is filled with searing pain . . . . I am feeble and utterly crushed . . . . My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.”
My body experiences negative changes from guilt also. I am fatigued, sad, unable to concentrate or be creative, and sometimes I get sick.
While not all illness is related to unconfessed sin, the Bible tells us to consider it. James 5 says, “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”
This passage offers a spiritual cause for some illnesses. It also offers a cure. Deal with the sin by confession because it promotes healing.
Confession simply means to agree with God. If He says we have done something wrong or evil and have broken His law, we need to acknowledge that what He says is true and right.
However, verbal confession is not a panacea or a magic formula based on the words we say because God is not a genie we rub with the right words every time we want something. He knows our hearts and the reasoning behind what we do. Our words must come from a genuine sense of guilt and a heartfelt need for forgiveness. He looks for sincerity before He “forgives our sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.”
If sin prevents full health, my body may be healed through confession, but it is not made perfect. No matter how well I take care of myself, my body will always have some limitations. Yet I do have hope. Someday “Those who are of the earth will bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”
God promises those who trust in Jesus Christ that they will someday have a body like His resurrected body. Sin and death will no longer have power to drag us into illness. Anger will no longer affect our white count. We will be delivered from it and from every other limitation of living in a sinful world in these imperfect bodies.
In the meantime, eat right, drink lots of water, get good exercise and rest, and trust in the Lord with all your heart; it is good for a body.
Monday, July 31, 2017
White as snow? .......... Parables 621
December 15, 1998
Something magical happens with the first snowfall. From my studio window, I see hundreds of rooftops. In fair weather, they are a kaleidoscope but after the first snowfall, their various sizes and shapes are unified in white, outlined with dark eaves-trough edges. Snow pulls them together in a huge patchwork quilt. It blankets everything.
Although each flake is crystal clear, millions of snowflakes together take on a pristine quality that makes the world look as the cliche says, “white as snow.”
Because of its color and its ability to cover, snow is used in an invitation from God found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. “Come now; and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
Scarlet metaphorically suggests sin is the color of shame, vivid and awful in the sight of God. He wants people to reason it out, to get past vague expressions like, “Of course we have sin” to a personal recognition that acknowledges “I am a sinner.”
Part of the reasoning called for in this verse is to also recognize the reasonableness of God. He is not a tyrant eager to drop a judgment hammer but a God who loves us. Sin spoiled our ability to know and love Him in return. For our sake and for His own, He planned to do something about it. This verse becomes a promise as He says, “they shall be as white as snow.”
This metaphorical use of snow also suggests how God does it. As snow covers the ground, the roof tops and everything it falls upon, so the forgiveness of God can cover our sin. He can give our lives a newness that is something like the freshness of that first snowfall.
Making sin white as snow is not the same as covering it up. God does not mask or hide what we have done as someone who pretends it is not there. Before sin can be covered, it must first be acknowledged and confessed. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
After we uncover our sin to God, He covers it in the sense that His forgiveness cleanses or washes our guilt from His record. Instead of offenses, our slate is wiped clean. In God’s mind, we are as white as snow.
Sin is scarlet but so is its remedy. God says without the “shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin.” Forgiveness and red blood go together. While this is gruesome to us, God uses blood as a cleansing agent for sin, the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.
Why isn’t being sorry for our sin enough to satisfy God? Can’t He forgive us on that basis? No, because sin is far more serious to Him than we imagine. It has marred His image in us and we fall short of all He intended. Besides, sin demands punishment. A holy God cannot look the other way.
The wages of sin is death but paying our own wages would not do it. A substitute is acceptable. In the Old Testament, is was an unblemished lamb. Then Christ came, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The substitute had to be perfect and since we are not, we cannot pay our debt ourselves.
God sent Jesus to be our substitute. His death paid our wages for sin and because He was sinless, God accepted His sacrifice. Then He rose from the dead, triumphing over both sin and death. Those who trust in Him are given that same victory.
When we sin, we can look to the Son of God who bled and died for us because He is the only One who can say, “Father, I got it covered.”
Something magical happens with the first snowfall. From my studio window, I see hundreds of rooftops. In fair weather, they are a kaleidoscope but after the first snowfall, their various sizes and shapes are unified in white, outlined with dark eaves-trough edges. Snow pulls them together in a huge patchwork quilt. It blankets everything.
Although each flake is crystal clear, millions of snowflakes together take on a pristine quality that makes the world look as the cliche says, “white as snow.”
Because of its color and its ability to cover, snow is used in an invitation from God found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah. “Come now; and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
Scarlet metaphorically suggests sin is the color of shame, vivid and awful in the sight of God. He wants people to reason it out, to get past vague expressions like, “Of course we have sin” to a personal recognition that acknowledges “I am a sinner.”
Part of the reasoning called for in this verse is to also recognize the reasonableness of God. He is not a tyrant eager to drop a judgment hammer but a God who loves us. Sin spoiled our ability to know and love Him in return. For our sake and for His own, He planned to do something about it. This verse becomes a promise as He says, “they shall be as white as snow.”
This metaphorical use of snow also suggests how God does it. As snow covers the ground, the roof tops and everything it falls upon, so the forgiveness of God can cover our sin. He can give our lives a newness that is something like the freshness of that first snowfall.
Making sin white as snow is not the same as covering it up. God does not mask or hide what we have done as someone who pretends it is not there. Before sin can be covered, it must first be acknowledged and confessed. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
After we uncover our sin to God, He covers it in the sense that His forgiveness cleanses or washes our guilt from His record. Instead of offenses, our slate is wiped clean. In God’s mind, we are as white as snow.
Sin is scarlet but so is its remedy. God says without the “shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin.” Forgiveness and red blood go together. While this is gruesome to us, God uses blood as a cleansing agent for sin, the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.
Why isn’t being sorry for our sin enough to satisfy God? Can’t He forgive us on that basis? No, because sin is far more serious to Him than we imagine. It has marred His image in us and we fall short of all He intended. Besides, sin demands punishment. A holy God cannot look the other way.
The wages of sin is death but paying our own wages would not do it. A substitute is acceptable. In the Old Testament, is was an unblemished lamb. Then Christ came, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The substitute had to be perfect and since we are not, we cannot pay our debt ourselves.
God sent Jesus to be our substitute. His death paid our wages for sin and because He was sinless, God accepted His sacrifice. Then He rose from the dead, triumphing over both sin and death. Those who trust in Him are given that same victory.
When we sin, we can look to the Son of God who bled and died for us because He is the only One who can say, “Father, I got it covered.”
Monday, January 30, 2017
Abuse and feelings of guilt .......... Parables 543
January 21, 1997?
Events of the past few weeks shock and sadden sports fans as one player after another confesses to being a victim of abuse. Counseling services report this is only the beginning.
As sport organizers work to put structures in place that may help prevent future occurrences, they are also concerned that pain-filled victims are properly treated. We know they do need to come forward and acknowledge their ugly memories to someone who can help them. The goal is not to sensationalize their situation but that healing may begin. While most realize healing requires more than telling someone, saying it out loud is the first step.
Along with the pain of being a victim, abused people often feel guilty. Some argue it is a false guilt because these people were not willing participants so they should not feel guilty. On the other hand, a person unfamiliar with the power of emotional and psychological manipulation might suggest that “victims” have will of their own and should have said “no.”
Whether or not that is true is not for us to judge. However, even there is some truth in it, the principle of “telling someone” works for real and false guilt as well as for healing emotional damage.
If the problems were purely physical ailments such as coughing blood, or dizzy spells, or constant knee pain, few people would insist that they are not sick. To do so practically guarantees they will remain unhealthy. Unless we acknowledge something is wrong, we cannot or will not take steps to make it right.
If the pain is emotional, acknowledgment is also vital. If I am angry and someone asks me about it, the way to ensure continued pain is by snapping, “I’m not mad.” However, if I want to change my emotional state, I need to admit it exists, to own it.
This principle is important for crisis counseling. An emotionally upset person has difficulty thinking clearly and making decisions. A wise counselor will defuse those emotions by helping the upset person say, or own up to, how he or she feels. Often just expressing emotions robs them of much of their power.
Guilt works in a similar way. For instance, if the speed limit is 90 kph and I drive 120 kph, I am guilty of exceeding the speed limit. It does not matter if I make an excuse or claim extenuating circumstances or did not notice I was speeding. Being ignorant of the law or its violation does not change the facts. I drove over the limit and am therefore guilty. Admitting it is the first step toward an end to that problem.
Moral guilt usually means breaking the laws of God. For example, God says I must not covet or want something that rightfully does not or cannot belong to me. If I do, I have broken the law of God. As long as I will not admit it, there is no hope of change and the act of coveting will begin to damage me and other people.
That is why the Bible says, “He who covers his sin shall not prosper.” In the case of coveting, I could obsessed with the forbidden thing, even to my ruin. I would be far better to face the fact of my guilt and admit the problem. When I do, God begins to heal me of my sin.
In some cases, a victimized person tells all to get even, to hurt the perpetrator, but those injured by emotional manipulation and sexual abuse often try to cover it up. They feel unclean, dirty, as if they were guilty themselves. Perhaps in such cases, rather than trying to assess those emotions or decide if those feelings of guilt are warranted, it would be better to simply confess they exist.
When we tell God about our feelings of guilt, He honors our honesty. He also knows the difference between true and false guilt so at the point of our telling, He offers us whatever we need.
Events of the past few weeks shock and sadden sports fans as one player after another confesses to being a victim of abuse. Counseling services report this is only the beginning.
As sport organizers work to put structures in place that may help prevent future occurrences, they are also concerned that pain-filled victims are properly treated. We know they do need to come forward and acknowledge their ugly memories to someone who can help them. The goal is not to sensationalize their situation but that healing may begin. While most realize healing requires more than telling someone, saying it out loud is the first step.
Along with the pain of being a victim, abused people often feel guilty. Some argue it is a false guilt because these people were not willing participants so they should not feel guilty. On the other hand, a person unfamiliar with the power of emotional and psychological manipulation might suggest that “victims” have will of their own and should have said “no.”
Whether or not that is true is not for us to judge. However, even there is some truth in it, the principle of “telling someone” works for real and false guilt as well as for healing emotional damage.
If the problems were purely physical ailments such as coughing blood, or dizzy spells, or constant knee pain, few people would insist that they are not sick. To do so practically guarantees they will remain unhealthy. Unless we acknowledge something is wrong, we cannot or will not take steps to make it right.
If the pain is emotional, acknowledgment is also vital. If I am angry and someone asks me about it, the way to ensure continued pain is by snapping, “I’m not mad.” However, if I want to change my emotional state, I need to admit it exists, to own it.
This principle is important for crisis counseling. An emotionally upset person has difficulty thinking clearly and making decisions. A wise counselor will defuse those emotions by helping the upset person say, or own up to, how he or she feels. Often just expressing emotions robs them of much of their power.
Guilt works in a similar way. For instance, if the speed limit is 90 kph and I drive 120 kph, I am guilty of exceeding the speed limit. It does not matter if I make an excuse or claim extenuating circumstances or did not notice I was speeding. Being ignorant of the law or its violation does not change the facts. I drove over the limit and am therefore guilty. Admitting it is the first step toward an end to that problem.
Moral guilt usually means breaking the laws of God. For example, God says I must not covet or want something that rightfully does not or cannot belong to me. If I do, I have broken the law of God. As long as I will not admit it, there is no hope of change and the act of coveting will begin to damage me and other people.
That is why the Bible says, “He who covers his sin shall not prosper.” In the case of coveting, I could obsessed with the forbidden thing, even to my ruin. I would be far better to face the fact of my guilt and admit the problem. When I do, God begins to heal me of my sin.
In some cases, a victimized person tells all to get even, to hurt the perpetrator, but those injured by emotional manipulation and sexual abuse often try to cover it up. They feel unclean, dirty, as if they were guilty themselves. Perhaps in such cases, rather than trying to assess those emotions or decide if those feelings of guilt are warranted, it would be better to simply confess they exist.
When we tell God about our feelings of guilt, He honors our honesty. He also knows the difference between true and false guilt so at the point of our telling, He offers us whatever we need.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Talking to Yourself? .................. Parables 439
September 20, 1994
Ever talk to yourself? Many children talk to their imaginary friends. My husband, whether at his workbench in the garage or his desk in the study, is usually discussing something with himself. As for me, when I make a mistake, I sometimes scold myself and when something goes right, I might say “Good job, Elsie.”
Although some jest this is “the first sign” (of mental illness), the practice of chatting to oneself seems normal. Some claim they do it because they cannot find a better conversational partner!
However, there is at least one situation where talking to yourself does indicate a problem. Consider this story told by Jesus: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men; extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess’” (Luke 10).
As he lists his outstanding qualities, the Pharisee sounds like a great fellow. He has a first class standing as a leader in the synagogue and owns respect of his countrymen. However, he did not know how to connect with God. Notice, he was praying to himself!
Jesus shocked His listeners when He described the contrasting prayer of the tax collector. They were startled because the only thing they despised more than Roman occupation and burdensome taxes were the people who were paid by Rome to collect those taxes.
The tax collector in this story was definitely a Jew. Romans would not be praying in the temple. He was considered a traitor. For that reason, those hearing Jesus would agree that the tax collector described himself accurately: “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”
As Jesus described these two prayers, some must have thought He would praise the Pharisee. He was a religious leader and considered a godly man. He was faithful to the nation and had not sold out to the Romans.
Imagine their surprise when Jesus gave this verdict: “I tell you, this man (the tax-collector) went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
God will justify even the worst sinners if they humble themselves before Him. To be justified means that God not only forgives the sin but also considers the sinner guiltless. Jesus paid the full penalty so there are no charges against them. Justification means “just as if” there were no sin.
As for the Pharisee’s boast, God is not interested in any so-called accomplishments. No matter how good a person appears, God says, “Whatever is not of faith is sin” so if there is no faith in Christ, that person falls short of pleasing Him.
Instead, God looks for a heart broken over sin. Isaiah 66:2 says, “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”
The Pharisee was so proud of himself, the direction of his prayer was not even toward God. Instead, he talked to the person he actually did rely on, trust, and worship: himself. In this case, talking to himself was a big mistake.
Ever talk to yourself? Many children talk to their imaginary friends. My husband, whether at his workbench in the garage or his desk in the study, is usually discussing something with himself. As for me, when I make a mistake, I sometimes scold myself and when something goes right, I might say “Good job, Elsie.”
Although some jest this is “the first sign” (of mental illness), the practice of chatting to oneself seems normal. Some claim they do it because they cannot find a better conversational partner!
However, there is at least one situation where talking to yourself does indicate a problem. Consider this story told by Jesus: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men; extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess’” (Luke 10).
As he lists his outstanding qualities, the Pharisee sounds like a great fellow. He has a first class standing as a leader in the synagogue and owns respect of his countrymen. However, he did not know how to connect with God. Notice, he was praying to himself!
Jesus shocked His listeners when He described the contrasting prayer of the tax collector. They were startled because the only thing they despised more than Roman occupation and burdensome taxes were the people who were paid by Rome to collect those taxes.
The tax collector in this story was definitely a Jew. Romans would not be praying in the temple. He was considered a traitor. For that reason, those hearing Jesus would agree that the tax collector described himself accurately: “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”
As Jesus described these two prayers, some must have thought He would praise the Pharisee. He was a religious leader and considered a godly man. He was faithful to the nation and had not sold out to the Romans.
Imagine their surprise when Jesus gave this verdict: “I tell you, this man (the tax-collector) went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
God will justify even the worst sinners if they humble themselves before Him. To be justified means that God not only forgives the sin but also considers the sinner guiltless. Jesus paid the full penalty so there are no charges against them. Justification means “just as if” there were no sin.
As for the Pharisee’s boast, God is not interested in any so-called accomplishments. No matter how good a person appears, God says, “Whatever is not of faith is sin” so if there is no faith in Christ, that person falls short of pleasing Him.
Instead, God looks for a heart broken over sin. Isaiah 66:2 says, “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”
The Pharisee was so proud of himself, the direction of his prayer was not even toward God. Instead, he talked to the person he actually did rely on, trust, and worship: himself. In this case, talking to himself was a big mistake.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Grannie Disease ................ Parables 318
May 19, 1992
During a recent visit, our oldest son noticed I kept forgetting to do something and quipped “I get that too — it’s called granny-disease.”
I should have swatted him. Most women want to forget birthdays only, and never become old enough to be forgetful! However, I did console myself with this thought: I am in good company — God forgets things too.
Directly related to God’s forgetfulness is one aspect of our own ability to forget. My husband and I marvel how the memory of confessed, forgiven sin fades. Our recall of things done in the past, things we were so ashamed of, has faded to the point where neither of us can remember details, even if we try. Yet there was a time we thought we would never forget.
Recently, God graciously delivered a friend of mine from a life of violent sin and demonic oppression that once dominated everything she did. What amazes her is that now she can scarcely remember even the most recent images from her past. She is particularly overjoyed that plaguing mental images are completely gone — as if she did not even experience them.
I know that some people are able to push painful or ugly memories out of their minds with busyness and noise, but their forgetfulness is repression, a deliberate effort. It is not the same as what God does with a Christian’s memory of sin.
To understand it, we need to first know what God Himself does with our sin. The Psalmist explains that “the LORD is merciful and gracious and slow to anger... while He does hate sin, He does not stay angry for ever...” even though He has every right to remain angry with us.
God offers forgiveness for at least two reasons. First, He can forgive because of the gospel. The death of His Son satisfied His righteous wrath against sin. We deserved the penalty but He loved us so much that He sent His Son to pay the penalty our sin deserved. Those who acknowledge their sin and need for forgiveness and believe in Christ as their sin-bearer, are pardoned. Their offenses are removed from them, nailed to His cross and God says, “Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more (Hebrews 10:17).
Second, His own nature demands forgiveness. Because He is holy, He cannot hold grudges. He says: “I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins.” That is why we can pray as the psalmist did: “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD” (Psalms 25:7).
The marvel is God not only forgives our confessed sin but also removes it. He promises: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Psalm 103 goes on to say “He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities... as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Christians experience the reality of freedom from guilt. As we confess daily and as each sin is cleansed, its guilt is taken away. Then, as we learn to live more and more under the control of the Holy Spirit, we more and more think like He thinks — and the more we think like He thinks, the more we are able to simply forget our sins — as He does.
None of us like it when we can’t remember the names of our good neighbors or where we put the car keys, but when it comes to forgetting cancelled sin, I do welcome having granny-disease.
During a recent visit, our oldest son noticed I kept forgetting to do something and quipped “I get that too — it’s called granny-disease.”
I should have swatted him. Most women want to forget birthdays only, and never become old enough to be forgetful! However, I did console myself with this thought: I am in good company — God forgets things too.
Directly related to God’s forgetfulness is one aspect of our own ability to forget. My husband and I marvel how the memory of confessed, forgiven sin fades. Our recall of things done in the past, things we were so ashamed of, has faded to the point where neither of us can remember details, even if we try. Yet there was a time we thought we would never forget.
Recently, God graciously delivered a friend of mine from a life of violent sin and demonic oppression that once dominated everything she did. What amazes her is that now she can scarcely remember even the most recent images from her past. She is particularly overjoyed that plaguing mental images are completely gone — as if she did not even experience them.
I know that some people are able to push painful or ugly memories out of their minds with busyness and noise, but their forgetfulness is repression, a deliberate effort. It is not the same as what God does with a Christian’s memory of sin.
To understand it, we need to first know what God Himself does with our sin. The Psalmist explains that “the LORD is merciful and gracious and slow to anger... while He does hate sin, He does not stay angry for ever...” even though He has every right to remain angry with us.
God offers forgiveness for at least two reasons. First, He can forgive because of the gospel. The death of His Son satisfied His righteous wrath against sin. We deserved the penalty but He loved us so much that He sent His Son to pay the penalty our sin deserved. Those who acknowledge their sin and need for forgiveness and believe in Christ as their sin-bearer, are pardoned. Their offenses are removed from them, nailed to His cross and God says, “Their sins and iniquities I will remember no more (Hebrews 10:17).
Second, His own nature demands forgiveness. Because He is holy, He cannot hold grudges. He says: “I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins.” That is why we can pray as the psalmist did: “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD” (Psalms 25:7).
The marvel is God not only forgives our confessed sin but also removes it. He promises: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Psalm 103 goes on to say “He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities... as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Christians experience the reality of freedom from guilt. As we confess daily and as each sin is cleansed, its guilt is taken away. Then, as we learn to live more and more under the control of the Holy Spirit, we more and more think like He thinks — and the more we think like He thinks, the more we are able to simply forget our sins — as He does.
None of us like it when we can’t remember the names of our good neighbors or where we put the car keys, but when it comes to forgetting cancelled sin, I do welcome having granny-disease.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Heart Cleaning .............. Parables 255
(February 20, 1991)
It won’t be long until spring cleaning. Out come mops for dirt and garbage cans for disposables. It feels good to sort out and clean up, even if it takes courage to tackle a long-neglected attic or basement storage room.
One time I volunteered to help a girl clean up her dirty room — without first seeing the room. Never again. It was an hour before the two of us uncovered the floor. The whole project took three days and yielded a truckload of dirty clothes and an enormous pile of trash. Any sense of accomplishment was nearly lost in our exhaustion. Even though the job was necessary, it would have been a lot easier if she had done a little each day, or even once a week, and not allowed the mess to get so out of hand.
For Christians, spiritual cleaning is necessary too. While it is best to keep our hearts continually clean, that is, confess sins daily, sometimes that doesn’t happen. We don’t hear God telling us about the dirty places, or we hear but don’t listen. The dirt begins to pile up in the corners.
But, whatever the sin, and whatever the reasons we refuse to deal with it, even if WE allow a backlog, GOD will not. Because He loves us and determines to deliver us from it, He will expose the covered, unconfessed sin, sometimes quite dramatically, and force us to do something about it.
In other words, sometimes God opens up some closets, spiritually speaking. When He does, the about-to-be-purged Christian discovers some skeletons and maybe even a few rotting corpses. Not a pleasant discovery. In fact, most of us would just as soon close the doors on the putrid mess and “move out” rather than allow Him to clean it up. However, when such a thing happens His grace prevails and there is nothing to do but give the mess to Him and see what He is will do to clean it up.
One note, this may never have happened to you (yet) but watch out for a smug, “I never did anything so bad as that person did” attitude. None of us can boast. I have clutched and concealed collections that didn’t please God and know rot is rot in His sight, whatever the degree of stench it discharges. Even if someone's cluttered closets offend me more than my “less” odious messes, both are equally offensive to the nostrils of God.
Nonetheless, like that girl’s room, the first sight of previously concealed filth, can be overwhelming to someone who lets it pile for a long time. Ten or twenty years of trash seems to need a bomb, not a broom. However, God’s cleaning program isn’t quite like ours. We see a big mess and want to either run away or reluctantly roll up our sleeves, but all He wants is us to get down on our knees with a contrite heart. He will do the cleaning. The promise is found in I John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In severe cases, it takes some while for all to be confessed. The offenders who allow the pile to accumulate agonize over each piece of junk, some of which has been hidden for years and years. But with each admission, the grace of God fulfills the promise. The cleansing happens. The closet begins to sparkle. In fact, sometimes the difference is so incredible it seems that there never had been any junk in there in the first place. All that is left are fading memories of the horror of first opening the door.
Not every closet is the same, but God’s promise covers your closets and mine; those that are nearly bare and those that have purposely been closed and accumulating far too long. From us, He wants honesty only, and the closet door (our hearts and lives) thrown open to His light. From there, He takes the blood of Christ and applies it to whatever garbage has been hidden in storage, washing it away and giving us a new start. What a wonder!
Certainly it takes courage to look at a big mess, either one from the present or one from the past. And it takes courage to pull out each rotten item and lay at His feet... but He is a capable Cleanser. His grace is sufficient to purge our hearts and change our lives. Not only that, He can keep them that way.
It won’t be long until spring cleaning. Out come mops for dirt and garbage cans for disposables. It feels good to sort out and clean up, even if it takes courage to tackle a long-neglected attic or basement storage room.
One time I volunteered to help a girl clean up her dirty room — without first seeing the room. Never again. It was an hour before the two of us uncovered the floor. The whole project took three days and yielded a truckload of dirty clothes and an enormous pile of trash. Any sense of accomplishment was nearly lost in our exhaustion. Even though the job was necessary, it would have been a lot easier if she had done a little each day, or even once a week, and not allowed the mess to get so out of hand.
For Christians, spiritual cleaning is necessary too. While it is best to keep our hearts continually clean, that is, confess sins daily, sometimes that doesn’t happen. We don’t hear God telling us about the dirty places, or we hear but don’t listen. The dirt begins to pile up in the corners.
But, whatever the sin, and whatever the reasons we refuse to deal with it, even if WE allow a backlog, GOD will not. Because He loves us and determines to deliver us from it, He will expose the covered, unconfessed sin, sometimes quite dramatically, and force us to do something about it.
In other words, sometimes God opens up some closets, spiritually speaking. When He does, the about-to-be-purged Christian discovers some skeletons and maybe even a few rotting corpses. Not a pleasant discovery. In fact, most of us would just as soon close the doors on the putrid mess and “move out” rather than allow Him to clean it up. However, when such a thing happens His grace prevails and there is nothing to do but give the mess to Him and see what He is will do to clean it up.
One note, this may never have happened to you (yet) but watch out for a smug, “I never did anything so bad as that person did” attitude. None of us can boast. I have clutched and concealed collections that didn’t please God and know rot is rot in His sight, whatever the degree of stench it discharges. Even if someone's cluttered closets offend me more than my “less” odious messes, both are equally offensive to the nostrils of God.
Nonetheless, like that girl’s room, the first sight of previously concealed filth, can be overwhelming to someone who lets it pile for a long time. Ten or twenty years of trash seems to need a bomb, not a broom. However, God’s cleaning program isn’t quite like ours. We see a big mess and want to either run away or reluctantly roll up our sleeves, but all He wants is us to get down on our knees with a contrite heart. He will do the cleaning. The promise is found in I John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In severe cases, it takes some while for all to be confessed. The offenders who allow the pile to accumulate agonize over each piece of junk, some of which has been hidden for years and years. But with each admission, the grace of God fulfills the promise. The cleansing happens. The closet begins to sparkle. In fact, sometimes the difference is so incredible it seems that there never had been any junk in there in the first place. All that is left are fading memories of the horror of first opening the door.
Not every closet is the same, but God’s promise covers your closets and mine; those that are nearly bare and those that have purposely been closed and accumulating far too long. From us, He wants honesty only, and the closet door (our hearts and lives) thrown open to His light. From there, He takes the blood of Christ and applies it to whatever garbage has been hidden in storage, washing it away and giving us a new start. What a wonder!
Certainly it takes courage to look at a big mess, either one from the present or one from the past. And it takes courage to pull out each rotten item and lay at His feet... but He is a capable Cleanser. His grace is sufficient to purge our hearts and change our lives. Not only that, He can keep them that way.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Home Invasion ........................... Parables 192
November 22, 1989
I have no idea how it got in. In fact, when the evidence was noticed, my first reaction was to deny the possibility. Years ago, when we lived on a farm, yes, but not here, not now. Before long, however, there was no doubt; somehow, a mouse was in our house.
While some might jump up on a chair and scream at even the thought, I immediately found an old-fashioned spring-loaded mousetrap, put some cheddar in it, and set it behind a cupboard just off the kitchen. No mouse was going to foul up my home. In my opinion, Mickey is the only cute mouse. The rest are disease carriers and destructive little pests. The mouse had to go -- as quickly as possible.
The next morning said mouse was a dead mouse and given burial without ceremony. Since we couldn’t find a possible entrance, we concluded that it came in while the lower level door was left open last week.
At the same time the mouse invaded, I was struggling with another pest. I had no idea how it got in either. In fact, at first sign of it, I denied the possibility. It couldn’t be my problem. It had to be this other person. After all, I’ve been a Christian too long to let a little thing like that bother me. Years ago, maybe, but not here, not now.
But before long the conviction from the Lord was too strong. There was no doubt; somehow a bad attitude about someone had settled down in my heart and taken up residence. Sinfully fed by mental reviewing their annoying habits, this pesky attitude was growing fatter by the week, ready to take over and rule my life.
Now sin ought to cause the same reaction as the mouse. Who wants a fouled up heart? It ought to be put out at the first sign... but not last week. Not that my sin was cute. It seldom is, at least for long. Like a mouse, it breeds more of its kind and eventually destroys everything.
Right off, it was ruining my fellowship with God. My prayers started bouncing off the ceiling. Even familiar truth from His Word became dry, without blessing.
I knew what the next symptom would be — ruined fellowship with other Christians. Oh, we would still be able to chitchat about superficial things, but hang on to that bad attitude and real spiritual intimacy would cease.
I could feel a loss of energy too. It takes effort thinking up ways to get even with someone, cutting words to say, what I should do and not do, and on and on. Just another consequence of turning away from God.
This attitude grew uglier by the minute. However, I wasn’t seeing it too clearly and took mercy on the thing. It wasn’t until we trapped the little mouse, that I realized this other pest had been freely scurrying about in my heart.
The Bible tells how to get rid of spiritual pests. First: “If we confess our sin, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). In other words, admit sin is there, rely on the Savior to remove it, and don’t let it come back.
Secondly, “Mortify (put to death) the deeds of the sinful nature.” Simply put, the outward words and behavior that resulted from that inner bad attitude must be slain — not thought of as “everyone else does it” or “that other person deserves it.” God’s solution is confess, forsake and put it to death. Show no mercy toward both inner and outer sin.
Ouch! I felt like I set a trap and caught myself in it. But thank God, He is faithful to save us from our sin. And thank God, there is more to His salvation than death to old ways. Within me is the life of Jesus Christ. When I willingly mortify the old, He supplies the new. That means love, peace, joy, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness, kindness and self-control are available in Him, for me. I get a second chance to rightly handle this other person, and my reactions.
Better than I can say for the mouse. Cute or not, he won’t be back.
I have no idea how it got in. In fact, when the evidence was noticed, my first reaction was to deny the possibility. Years ago, when we lived on a farm, yes, but not here, not now. Before long, however, there was no doubt; somehow, a mouse was in our house.
While some might jump up on a chair and scream at even the thought, I immediately found an old-fashioned spring-loaded mousetrap, put some cheddar in it, and set it behind a cupboard just off the kitchen. No mouse was going to foul up my home. In my opinion, Mickey is the only cute mouse. The rest are disease carriers and destructive little pests. The mouse had to go -- as quickly as possible.
The next morning said mouse was a dead mouse and given burial without ceremony. Since we couldn’t find a possible entrance, we concluded that it came in while the lower level door was left open last week.
At the same time the mouse invaded, I was struggling with another pest. I had no idea how it got in either. In fact, at first sign of it, I denied the possibility. It couldn’t be my problem. It had to be this other person. After all, I’ve been a Christian too long to let a little thing like that bother me. Years ago, maybe, but not here, not now.
But before long the conviction from the Lord was too strong. There was no doubt; somehow a bad attitude about someone had settled down in my heart and taken up residence. Sinfully fed by mental reviewing their annoying habits, this pesky attitude was growing fatter by the week, ready to take over and rule my life.
Now sin ought to cause the same reaction as the mouse. Who wants a fouled up heart? It ought to be put out at the first sign... but not last week. Not that my sin was cute. It seldom is, at least for long. Like a mouse, it breeds more of its kind and eventually destroys everything.
Right off, it was ruining my fellowship with God. My prayers started bouncing off the ceiling. Even familiar truth from His Word became dry, without blessing.
I knew what the next symptom would be — ruined fellowship with other Christians. Oh, we would still be able to chitchat about superficial things, but hang on to that bad attitude and real spiritual intimacy would cease.
I could feel a loss of energy too. It takes effort thinking up ways to get even with someone, cutting words to say, what I should do and not do, and on and on. Just another consequence of turning away from God.
This attitude grew uglier by the minute. However, I wasn’t seeing it too clearly and took mercy on the thing. It wasn’t until we trapped the little mouse, that I realized this other pest had been freely scurrying about in my heart.
The Bible tells how to get rid of spiritual pests. First: “If we confess our sin, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). In other words, admit sin is there, rely on the Savior to remove it, and don’t let it come back.
Secondly, “Mortify (put to death) the deeds of the sinful nature.” Simply put, the outward words and behavior that resulted from that inner bad attitude must be slain — not thought of as “everyone else does it” or “that other person deserves it.” God’s solution is confess, forsake and put it to death. Show no mercy toward both inner and outer sin.
Ouch! I felt like I set a trap and caught myself in it. But thank God, He is faithful to save us from our sin. And thank God, there is more to His salvation than death to old ways. Within me is the life of Jesus Christ. When I willingly mortify the old, He supplies the new. That means love, peace, joy, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness, kindness and self-control are available in Him, for me. I get a second chance to rightly handle this other person, and my reactions.
Better than I can say for the mouse. Cute or not, he won’t be back.
Monday, September 15, 2014
One at a time is often the best way ........................... Parables 170
(June 21, 1989)
A friendly woman along my walking route chuckled as she placed one empty milk carton in her curbside garbage container. “I’m really efficient; I take my garbage out one piece at a time.”
Trying to be positive, I encouraged that at least walking back and forth was good exercise.
Halfway down the block I started thinking about other possible benefits of her “one-thing-at-a-time” efficiency. In contrast, some of us tend to tackle too many things at once. For instance, I have one half of a pair of drapes hanging beside my sewing machine, a half finished needlepoint folded in a basket in the living room, a nearly completed afghan in a box beside the family room love seat, the material to make ceramic trivets sitting in the garage . . . need I go on?
I justify myself with the fact I am easily bored. It is more interesting to hop back and forth between several projects, even though nothing ever seems to be finished, than working on one thing for a long time. Even when the drapes are done, I’m apt to start a macramé before the afghan is completed.
My whole life isn’t like that though. Certain activities, like making beds, cooking meals, and washing dirty dishes and laundry, MUST be done from start to finish all at one time. If I don’t, those things multiply entirely out of hand; the household becomes chaotic, and my family threatens to replace me.
But I have to admit, the haphazard method is my preference. It fits in with my temperament and allows me to do what I please, when I please. But it is disastrous for some necessities, including taking out the garbage.
Oh, not the usual kind. Every now and then, God lets me know my life needs some spiritual house cleaning. Yuck. He points to a few bad attitudes, some sinful habits, and some selfish time-wasters that are piling up in the corners. Garbage. Now that I am a Christian, I’d like to gather it up in a big bundle, generalize it with “Lord, You know I’m a sinner . . . ” and get it out all at one time, just as I did at my conversion. But for some reason, it doesn’t work that way now. It seems, to really be rid of each smelly item, it must be taken to Him one piece at a time.
He works the same way we clean up a messy room, starting with one piece of junk. As He picks it out for my examination, I’m responsible to agree with His evaluation and condemnation... it IS junk -- it MUST go. Amazingly, He wants me to give it to Him, but along with it, a confessed description of exactly what the junk is, “Forgive me for doing such and such . . . ”
He promises in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” In other words, He chucks the thing in His garbage can. (At that point, I have to make sure I fully repent and don’t pick it up and carry it back in my house. In spite of the smell, I tend to try and hang on to the stuff.)
Another thing about trash, after it’s gone it can leave an “after odor.” In other words, even when I properly confess the thing, my heart sometimes still feels dirty. However, God said He would clean it up. I’m to believe what He says, not assume by my feelings that He didn’t. After all, unbelief and false guilt can be just as foul as whatever I confessed.
Whoever she is, thanks to the neighbor lady. God used her remark to remind me of the inefficiency of making blanket confessions. In this case, “just one piece at a time” IS the best way.
A friendly woman along my walking route chuckled as she placed one empty milk carton in her curbside garbage container. “I’m really efficient; I take my garbage out one piece at a time.”
Trying to be positive, I encouraged that at least walking back and forth was good exercise.
Halfway down the block I started thinking about other possible benefits of her “one-thing-at-a-time” efficiency. In contrast, some of us tend to tackle too many things at once. For instance, I have one half of a pair of drapes hanging beside my sewing machine, a half finished needlepoint folded in a basket in the living room, a nearly completed afghan in a box beside the family room love seat, the material to make ceramic trivets sitting in the garage . . . need I go on?
I justify myself with the fact I am easily bored. It is more interesting to hop back and forth between several projects, even though nothing ever seems to be finished, than working on one thing for a long time. Even when the drapes are done, I’m apt to start a macramé before the afghan is completed.
My whole life isn’t like that though. Certain activities, like making beds, cooking meals, and washing dirty dishes and laundry, MUST be done from start to finish all at one time. If I don’t, those things multiply entirely out of hand; the household becomes chaotic, and my family threatens to replace me.
But I have to admit, the haphazard method is my preference. It fits in with my temperament and allows me to do what I please, when I please. But it is disastrous for some necessities, including taking out the garbage.
Oh, not the usual kind. Every now and then, God lets me know my life needs some spiritual house cleaning. Yuck. He points to a few bad attitudes, some sinful habits, and some selfish time-wasters that are piling up in the corners. Garbage. Now that I am a Christian, I’d like to gather it up in a big bundle, generalize it with “Lord, You know I’m a sinner . . . ” and get it out all at one time, just as I did at my conversion. But for some reason, it doesn’t work that way now. It seems, to really be rid of each smelly item, it must be taken to Him one piece at a time.
He works the same way we clean up a messy room, starting with one piece of junk. As He picks it out for my examination, I’m responsible to agree with His evaluation and condemnation... it IS junk -- it MUST go. Amazingly, He wants me to give it to Him, but along with it, a confessed description of exactly what the junk is, “Forgive me for doing such and such . . . ”
He promises in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” In other words, He chucks the thing in His garbage can. (At that point, I have to make sure I fully repent and don’t pick it up and carry it back in my house. In spite of the smell, I tend to try and hang on to the stuff.)
Another thing about trash, after it’s gone it can leave an “after odor.” In other words, even when I properly confess the thing, my heart sometimes still feels dirty. However, God said He would clean it up. I’m to believe what He says, not assume by my feelings that He didn’t. After all, unbelief and false guilt can be just as foul as whatever I confessed.
Whoever she is, thanks to the neighbor lady. God used her remark to remind me of the inefficiency of making blanket confessions. In this case, “just one piece at a time” IS the best way.
Monday, September 9, 2013
The only cure for guilt ........................... Parables 018
What would you think of a doctor who gave you a few aspirins for a broken leg? What would you think of the staff in an emergency ward if you were in agony with a face full of glass and they offered you a 292 and a drink of water? You probably wouldn’t be too impressed at their efforts to treat your pain.
The dictionary defines pain as: “The unpleasant sensation of feeling resulting from or accompanying some injury, over-strain, or obstruction of the physical powers.” Obviously, pain has a purpose. It is there to inform us that something is wrong. The person who constantly treats pain with painkillers rather than seeking the source of the pain, is certain to face far more serious consequences than some “unpleasant sensations or feelings.” In fact, their life could be at stake.
Our emotions also contain a warning signal. This signal is designed to inform us when something is wrong with our spiritual condition. It is the unpleasant sensation or feeling that we call “guilt” and it acts much the same as pain. It accompanies some offense committed, or obstruction that we have placed between ourselves and God, to prevent His power from being active in our lives. And, as with pain, we have invented some “guilt-killers,” things that we use to try to cover the issue instead of getting to the root of the problem. I don’t know what other people do, but here are some of my “home-cure remedies” for guilt, none of which do any good, and in fact compound the problem and confuse the patient:
1) Blaming others and therefore denying responsibility for my own faults.
2) Rationalization, which is really redefining the “illness” so that I am not really guilty at all, and therefore need no treatment.
3) Excuses: “I couldn’t help it” “I didn’t know any better” “You made me do that!” and this gem, “That’s just the way I am!” Sometimes excuses are valid, but most of the time they are offered as a panacea for guilt.
4) Promising that I will never do it again, a sort of fantasy whereby I begin to think that because I have such good intentions, I have solved the entire problem.
5) Talking to myself about the various aspects of the problem so much that I have covered all the angles, am sick of the subject, have dulled my sense of guilt, and therefore have not had to admit it or do anything constructive about it.
6) Balance it out by focusing on my goodness, which is like saying, “Oh, I know my left arm is broken, but my right one is still okay.”
7) An extreme self-condemnation, exaggerating my responsibility for the mess that the entire world is in, to the point where I simply do not do anything specific about the garbage that is really mine.
8) And when all else fails, self-pity, even though it is a bitter spoonful of medicine to take, transfers the pain of guilt to a more satisfying pain of being a “poor innocent victim of circumstances!”
I am thankful to my Lord that even should I decide to take this entire batch of supposed painkillers for my guilt, He eventually brings me back to the place where I started, and to this verse which offers the only remedy that is effective: “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).
Just as a healthy body enjoys the well-being of being pain-free, those who know God’s forgiveness and cleansing from sin can enjoy freedom from guilt. His remedy is to get to the root of the problem and when we receive the forgiveness that He offers, the symptom is taken care of along with the disease.
The dictionary defines pain as: “The unpleasant sensation of feeling resulting from or accompanying some injury, over-strain, or obstruction of the physical powers.” Obviously, pain has a purpose. It is there to inform us that something is wrong. The person who constantly treats pain with painkillers rather than seeking the source of the pain, is certain to face far more serious consequences than some “unpleasant sensations or feelings.” In fact, their life could be at stake.
Our emotions also contain a warning signal. This signal is designed to inform us when something is wrong with our spiritual condition. It is the unpleasant sensation or feeling that we call “guilt” and it acts much the same as pain. It accompanies some offense committed, or obstruction that we have placed between ourselves and God, to prevent His power from being active in our lives. And, as with pain, we have invented some “guilt-killers,” things that we use to try to cover the issue instead of getting to the root of the problem. I don’t know what other people do, but here are some of my “home-cure remedies” for guilt, none of which do any good, and in fact compound the problem and confuse the patient:
1) Blaming others and therefore denying responsibility for my own faults.
2) Rationalization, which is really redefining the “illness” so that I am not really guilty at all, and therefore need no treatment.
3) Excuses: “I couldn’t help it” “I didn’t know any better” “You made me do that!” and this gem, “That’s just the way I am!” Sometimes excuses are valid, but most of the time they are offered as a panacea for guilt.
4) Promising that I will never do it again, a sort of fantasy whereby I begin to think that because I have such good intentions, I have solved the entire problem.
5) Talking to myself about the various aspects of the problem so much that I have covered all the angles, am sick of the subject, have dulled my sense of guilt, and therefore have not had to admit it or do anything constructive about it.
6) Balance it out by focusing on my goodness, which is like saying, “Oh, I know my left arm is broken, but my right one is still okay.”
7) An extreme self-condemnation, exaggerating my responsibility for the mess that the entire world is in, to the point where I simply do not do anything specific about the garbage that is really mine.
8) And when all else fails, self-pity, even though it is a bitter spoonful of medicine to take, transfers the pain of guilt to a more satisfying pain of being a “poor innocent victim of circumstances!”
I am thankful to my Lord that even should I decide to take this entire batch of supposed painkillers for my guilt, He eventually brings me back to the place where I started, and to this verse which offers the only remedy that is effective: “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).
Just as a healthy body enjoys the well-being of being pain-free, those who know God’s forgiveness and cleansing from sin can enjoy freedom from guilt. His remedy is to get to the root of the problem and when we receive the forgiveness that He offers, the symptom is taken care of along with the disease.
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