Love vs Guilt

Love overcomes guilt.

Introduction       

            The worst way to live is to live regretfully. Thoughts such as “If only I had than . . .” or “Why did I do such a terrible action?” plague our entire being �" inward and outward. We maintaining a sinful nature does not further the pursuit of our happiness, but rather it adds guilt when we sin. Sin only adds guilt because that is what it does. Furthermore, the guilt adds more guilt when we dwell upon the sin even more! We get guilty because we feel bad not because we violated God’s standard (otherwise we would have obeyed His standard and believe that He would forgive us), but because we feel sorry for ourselves. This guilt, which is so dreadful, makes one seem worthless and inadequate in his eyes. But is this even biblical? Dwelling upon our past sins, we are hurting ourselves. Every person must learn to love himself as God sees him not only before he sinned but also after he sinned.

Live Life

            When an action has been done, it has been done. You can never time travel to the past and redo what you have done. As the Newsboys song, One Shot, testifies,

            “All around the world, every boy, every girl’s

            Got one shot to prove what their all about [ . . . .]”

Although you do have regrets concerning the action you have done, you can still learn from it, so you will not make the same mistake in the future. However, dwelling upon the sins in the past is not acceptable �" first, to God and second, to yourself. Plus One, a Christian rock band, has a song called My Life which expresses the importance of each person living their life to the fullest:

            “My life

            [ . . .]

            It’s your life

            [ . . .]

            Don’t want to

            Get it wrong

            It’s time to

            Get it right

            My life

            [ . . .]

            It’s your life

            [ . . .]

            Need to make a change

            Time for saving

            My life.”

When we sin, we can have the assurance that the Holy Spirit will help us not to sin (and thus be in guilt), if we remain in God’s grace. Paul writes to the Galatians and explains to them the importance of faith and the Holy Spirit in contrast to the law. First, he talks about the law in light of faith by the analogy of Abraham’s faith and the story of Hagar and Sarah than he talks about freedom in Christ. In chapter five he discusses that no man should indulge in the flesh, but rather he should live for God (Gal. 5:13).  As a result, Paul says that the only way to defeat sin is “live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (Gal. 5:16).” The first step we must take in order to live a righteous life is to live by the Spirit. However, we must “make a change” meaning: do something about our sin so we do not fall back into it and/or stop dwelling about the past and simply live life. The second step we must take to live a God-honoring life is to live blamelessly and forget the past.

Guilt is covered

            Everything we do or think must follow the guidelines God has set for us in the Bible. But being guilty again and again, surely God has something to say about it? He does. Just so we are on the same page, we will see what the word guilty means by the Webster’s New World Thesaurus. Webster defines guilty as “criminal, condemned, judged, at fault, sinful, to blame, in the wrong, in error, wrong, blamable, reproachable.”But is this how God sees us? No, but God sees us as high priests who enter the Holy of Holies not just once a year but daily. The author who wrote the book of Hebrews is unknown, but the supremacy of Christ was his main point. Through Jesus Christ we have gained God’s favor. Instead of being neglected by God, we have the privilege in coming to Him. The author of Hebrews says in chapter ten,

            “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood             of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and        since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere     heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswerving to the       hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

In the Old Testament, the high priest would slay a turtledove, a sheep, or a bull to make atonement for the sins of a person. Not only were there animal sacrifices because of man’s sin, but also animal sacrifices were meant to worship God. However, when Christ came, He abolished the law and all the ritualistic practices and brought us under grace. Here is another quote in Hebrews,

            “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he     offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had            offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. [ . . .] by         one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Heb. 10:11-          14).”

What I’m trying to say is Christ is our guilt sacrifice. He took our sins, sorrow, and shame on the cross. We do not need to carry the same burdens with us when Christ paid the price. Indeed, we cannot even pay the price. We cannot do anything worthwhile for God until we accept that Christ died for our sins by faith. Born Again, a lyric, by Newsboys gives a convicting message concerning the importance of the cross,

            “This is what it is

            This is who I am

            This is where I finally take my stand

            I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl

            I’m not the one with two scarred hands

            Givin him the best of everything that’s left of

            The life inside this man

            I’ve been born again.”

Guilt is past sin living in the conscience of a man. When guilt lives in me, I find it no different than me actually sinning that very moment. Having guilt residing in you is a choice; this choice rejects the love of Christ because it is anxious about not withholding to his own standard. Love towards God ultimately accepts the love of Christ through faith. Without faith, all that the man does will be sin, even if the man confesses his sin to God. Christ’s love is so great that He gave His all to us, so that He may bring us back to God.  Above All, an emotional song, by Michael W. Smith perfectly demonstrates Christ’s agape love toward us:

            Crucified

            Laid behind the stone

            You lived to die

            Rejected and alone

            Like a rose

            Trampled on the ground

            You took the fall

            And thought of me

            Above all.

Think Love
            I explained that not accepting Christ’s atoning sacrifice through faith is sin (even though we are currently saved), but I will now explain why it is sin. Even though we accepted Christ as Savior, we must continue to live daily in Him, even after we sin.

            “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and      built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught . . . (Col. 2:6-7).”

Dwelling upon my guilt more than Christ’s saving me is to disobey Scripture and thus live in sin. The battle is all in the mind �" choosing to believe or not to believe. It is no wonder that God spoke through Paul in a letter to the Philippians,

            “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is          pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable �" if anything is excellent or praiseworthy       �" think about such things (Phil. 4:8).”

The moment I neglect to think as to what is right is the very moment I entertain evil thinking. Even if I am not thinking about anything heinous or evil, if I neglect to think about what is good or am constantly “brain-dead” concerning the things of God, I sin. Whenever I am guilty, there lies a fear that fears to commit the same sin again or a fear that fears to be found out. The evidence of fear only serves to prove that Christ’s love has not yet been perfected in us. John the Apostle, author of the Gospel of John and the Epistles of John, wrote to the city of Ephesus to warn them of false teachers. As he writes, he mentions love as a forefront of the Christian life. With 1 John being the book that mentions the word love the most, we can learn the relation between love and fear:

            “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is       made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment,             because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out   fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in             love (1 Jn. 4:17-18).”

As we learn in this passage, love conquers all. Love toward God is possible, although not by our own doing. We need Christ’s help. However, in order to love God, we must have a submissive spirit towards God. Once we have a submissive spirit, God gives us the faith to accept Christ’s sacrifice. This faith leads us to love. Every Christian will find himself across the canyon to the land called love when he first crosses the bridge called faith.

Our Confidence

            One may wonder why I might end this tangent with forgiveness when they suspect that it should be tops in the list. My reasoning is Jesus should be mentioned first because when guilt settles in our heart, needless forgiveness is always on our mind when Christ remains rejected day in and day out. Whenever I wake up, I must remember Christ’s love for me and how I am called to love in Him return. This call of love is not a call of despair when I wake up and realize that I must live for someone else besides myself. The call of love is a call that tells me to thirst for the all-satisfying God that satisfies. We guilty people have already done the believing (vain believing), but now we must believe in love.

            “Father, please forgive me and help me as I go my way.” Five minutes pass. No sin has been committed. Yet the same prayer has been repeated �" again. “Father, please forgive me and help me as I go my way.” I do not know if this resembles you, but it resembles me. With 1 John 1:9 being my confidence that God forgives me, I uttered prayers of forgiveness. As I saw that I continually professed my sins, I wondered how long I would be in the state of forgiveness. It was like confessing my sins to a priest! And it was draining me! Believing is belief done in vain if it is not added by love through faith. Until that happens, we lie in sin. But when it happens, 1 John 1:9 truly means what it says.

            “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us        from all unrighteousness.”

When I do believe through love, my sins are washed away, and I am like a high priest: holy and righteousness in God’s eyes. This is how God sees me. It is how I should see myself. After all does not God love me as much as He loves His Son, Jesus Christ? Jesus said this Himself in the Gospel John:

            “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name �" the name you gave me �" so that they may be one as we are one.”

When I remember the cross that Christ died on to shed His blood for me, my former sins begins to fade away and my guilt dies out as the cross of Christ shines through my life. No longer than does earthly sorrow remain due to the self-pity of me not being as good as I am supposed to be, but rather Christ’s love for me moves me to repentance. Indeed is that not what love does?

            “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not          knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance (Rom. 2:4).”

Moreover, Christ’s love for me touches (or at least it should) how I should live each day. When I have Christ’s love, I have gained everything that God has given me for I am His. As a result, this makes me awe at Christ’s love for me and makes me want to love Him in return not because I have to, but because I want to.

            “”For the love of Christ controls us (2 Cor. 5:14).”

Conclusion

            Realizing the love that Christ has for me helps how I deal with guilt now and the future. Guilt has no power over me. Am I not under Christ?

            There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:1-    2).”

Love for God must control our lives if we ever want to make progress concerning the guilt that pokes at our lives. As I discussed in this paper, we must 1) realize that Christ died for us and crucified our guilt with Him on the cross. 2) I must consistently meditate of the love God has for me, and I must stir up a love for Him. Lastly, 3) I must ask for forgiveness in a loving way through faith. Love conquers all. Just look at the cross.  Malcolm Smith speaks a most encouraging message that sums up the Christian religion: “Christianity is not a formula, but the Person of Jesus Himself. Never think that Christianity is a matter of adjusting behavior, but rather, of letting Christ live through us in His strength and power.”