Comments (1)

1. 

   Char:
   Jun 14, 2016 at 11:29 PM

   Feelings of guilt grip many who "say" they've been forgiven, while not really believing it. I've struggled with it for years until God recently showed me that I needed to "accept" forgiveness. We say God forgives and forgets our sins. But how can He possibly forget if we keep rehashing guilt over everything we've done or haven't done?
   
   People have a tendency to hold onto guilt to where forgiveness becomes ineffective in their lives. We get stifled in the present because we're reliving something that cannot be undone whether real or imagined. And then we feel guilty tomorrow for having done nothing worthwhile today because we we were too busy thinking about yesterday. Guilt perpetuates itself and ultimately prevents us from doing those things that we may already be feeling guilty about. And that's exactly what condemnation does.
   
   God is not the one who condemns. He wants us to grow and learn from the past, not relive it. Satan wants to hinder growth and accuses us night and day by whispering guilt to us that we aren't doing the right thing. Or we've messed up so bad that Christ took back our forgiveness. If he keeps us wallowing in it, we become what Paul warned us about.
   
   "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!".
   
   We need to learn to chew on our food and not on our guilt.