THE DANGER OF GUILT
Guilt is dangerous in that it destroys faith. The enemy of our soul is not at all interested in making Christians into adulterers, addicts or prostitutes. He is interested in one thing only—turning Christians into unbelievers. He uses the lusts of the body to bind the mind.
Satan wants you to be so crushed with guilt that you let go of your faith. He wants you to doubt God’s faithfulness and think that nobody really cares; that you will live in misery and heartbreak; that you will always be a slave to your lust; that God’s holiness is unreachable; that you are left alone to work out your own problems; that God no longer cares about your needs and feelings. If he can get you to the point of despair, he can flood you with unbelief—and then he has succeeded in his mission. The three simple steps toward atheism are guilt, doubt and unbelief.
Guilt can eat away at the spiritual vitality of a Christian like a raging cancer. It causes a person to lose control of life; it leads to a desire to quit or retire from spiritual activity; and, finally, it brings on physical pain and disease. Like cancer, guilt feeds upon itself until all spiritual life is gone, and the end result is weakness and a sense of shame and failure.
The way to get rid of guilt is to get rid of sin, which sounds simple, but it is not. You don’t just make up your mind to “drop” that third party that has entered your life. Many have tried that and found it didn’t work. You don’t just walk away from things that bind.
The most important move you will ever make in your life is the move you make right after you fail God. Will you believe the accuser’s lies and give up in despair, or will you allow yourself to receive the forgiving flow of God’s love?
Do you fear asking his forgiveness because you are not really sure you want to be free from that thing that binds you? Do you want the Lord, yet secretly long for something that is not lawfully yours? God is able to answer sincere prayer, to make you want to do his perfect will. Ask him to make you want to fulfill his will.
Satan wants you to be so crushed with guilt that you let go of your faith. He wants you to doubt God’s faithfulness and think that nobody really cares; that you will live in misery and heartbreak; that you will always be a slave to your lust; that God’s holiness is unreachable; that you are left alone to work out your own problems; that God no longer cares about your needs and feelings. If he can get you to the point of despair, he can flood you with unbelief—and then he has succeeded in his mission. The three simple steps toward atheism are guilt, doubt and unbelief.
Guilt can eat away at the spiritual vitality of a Christian like a raging cancer. It causes a person to lose control of life; it leads to a desire to quit or retire from spiritual activity; and, finally, it brings on physical pain and disease. Like cancer, guilt feeds upon itself until all spiritual life is gone, and the end result is weakness and a sense of shame and failure.
The way to get rid of guilt is to get rid of sin, which sounds simple, but it is not. You don’t just make up your mind to “drop” that third party that has entered your life. Many have tried that and found it didn’t work. You don’t just walk away from things that bind.
The most important move you will ever make in your life is the move you make right after you fail God. Will you believe the accuser’s lies and give up in despair, or will you allow yourself to receive the forgiving flow of God’s love?
Do you fear asking his forgiveness because you are not really sure you want to be free from that thing that binds you? Do you want the Lord, yet secretly long for something that is not lawfully yours? God is able to answer sincere prayer, to make you want to do his perfect will. Ask him to make you want to fulfill his will.