Feelings of Guilt

Have you ever found yourself ruminating over some misdeed you have done, wishing you could have changed your course of action? You guessed it! This is nothing short of feelings of guilt. According to Webster’s Dictionary, guilt is ‘the state of having done something wrong, especially something punishable by law. It also encompasses the feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing, whether real or imagined. Many of us may have never had any run-ins with the law, but we have all violated God’s law, “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). All have experienced the emotion of guilt, whether it is justified or not.

It is a good thing to have a sense of sadness over a past action that caused harm to another person or pain to the heart of God. Though the conscience is not always reliable to determine wrongdoing (the Scriptures are most reliable), a conscience sensitive to the Holy Spirit is likely to feel guilt. Jesus says, “Confess your faults one to another” (James 5:16), but confess sins to God (Psalm 32:5). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “He retains not His anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and . . . cast all [our] sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18, 19). And then Jesus wants us to refrain from going fishing for those sins that are forgiven.

Some sins are so bad, however, that there may be the temptation to feel as though God cannot forgive them, and therefore, cannot accept you. But the scriptures do not substantiate such a thought. David coveted another man’s wife that resulted not only in adultery, but also murder. Peter denied knowing His Lord openly, even resorting to cursing to emphasize his claim. King Manasseh built up the high places that his father, Hezekiah had destroyed, and set up altars for Baal, a false god, and worshiped “all the host of heaven, and served them. . . . He made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger” (2 Kings 21:3, 6) Nevertheless, when they all humbled themselves and confessed their sins, God did forgive them. The guilt these men experienced was real, but upon receiving forgiveness, there was no need for them to retain any guilt for their actions. The greatest sinners essentially need the greatest Savior, Jesus Christ. (Ellen G. White, Lift Him Up, pg. 256).

While the guilt for any wrong doing is real, whether the sin is great or small, there is also another kind of guilt that is considered “unfounded or disproportionate guilt” (Julian Melgosa, Positive Mind, pg. 164). This is not always so easy to detect. A child may, for example, feel a sense of guilt because of the parents’ divorce, or a spouse may feel guilt for the affair that he did not participate in. Here there may not only be a false feeling of guilt, but also constant self-blame. But unfounded guilt raises its ugly head in other ways, according to Melgosa, in feelings of inferiority, perfectionism, fear of failure, and being too demanding of others (Positive Mind, pg. 164). It is important, therefore, to seek God to be able to discern where we are harboring unfounded guilt that can truly wreak havoc in our lives.

Jesus says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Jesus knows that the burden of guilt is too heavy for us to bear. He Himself has paid the penalty for the sins of every transgressor. The  gospel, the good news that Jesus has brought to us by His life, death, resurrection and heavenly intercession, has the power to transform us, so that the minds that we have will reflect the mind of Christ, dwelling on what is life enervating rather than life destroying. So when guilt comes knocking on your door next time, take ownership of this emotion. Resort to action in order to ascertain the cause, confess the fault or sin, and then accept the remedy that is provided in Jesus. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).