Dealing With Persistent Guilt (Part 3)

Dealing With Persistent Guilt (Part 3)

" ... but God showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us ..." Romans 5:8

Yesterday I shared some thoughts from Puritan writer Thomas Wilcox on what to do when persistent guilt rears its ugly head ... Here are several other comments ...

Shift your focus to the glory of Christ. If guilt still persists, remember that he pardons for his own name's sake (Isaiah 43:25; Ezekiel 36:22; 1 John 2:12), because in pardoning us he'll make us living monuments of the glory of the grace he purchased. It's Christ's own happiness to pardon, so he does. By embracing this truth, even the most desperate sinner's conscience can rest absolutely assured.

Shift your focus off self-condemnation. When our conscience relentlessly condemns us, remember that Christ will have the last word. He is the judge of the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5) and only he can pronounce the final sentence. CHRIST is the judge -- not our conscience. So never for a moment dare to take the judge's place by proclaiming irreparable guilt when he proclaims hope, grace, and pardon. If we think our sin is too great to be pardoned, remember that Christ doesn't agree.

Shift your focus on self-contempt. If we're focused on hating ourselves, realize that we're focused on ourselves and not on him. Self-contempt is a subtle form of self-centeredness, which is the opposite of Christ-centeredness. Unless our self-contempt makes us look more at the righteousness of Christ, and the cross of Christ and less at ourselves, the whole endeavor leads to death. Let our sin break our hearts, but not our hope in the gospel.

The greatness of Christ's merit is known best by sinners in deep distress. The thirstier a man is, the more he'll prize a cup of water; the more our sins break and burden us, the more we'll treasure our Healer and Deliverer.

The second year after coming to America's KESWICK, I developed pneumonia right before the summer season. I had a lot of time to think and pray. Ironically I was reading a book by Jerry Bridges. In that book he suggested that when we struggle with persistent guilt, we make a list of all the things that keep coming back to our minds. Write it all down and then burn the list! Destroy it. Remember what Christ did with it -- He paid for it with His blood ONCE AND FOR ALL -- he buried them in the deepest sea, and removed them as far as the east is from the west. Or as the late Corrie ten Boom said it ... confess it, throw it in the lake and put up a sign that says, NO MORE FISHING!

What a great time of the year to thank Him for so great a sacrifice for our sins. Hallelujah, What A Savior. -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 8; 1 Samuel 10-12; Luke 9:37-62

Great Quote: Perhaps you have been ensnared by a sinful habit that you will not abandon, and your guilt is so overwhelming you are ashamed to approach Christ. Whatever the reason for your broken intimacy with God, there is good news. Jesus waits to embrace you now in the arms of unconditional, divine love. Charles Stanley