Guilt and Forgiveness

Meaning of Guilt

1. Responsibility for having done something wrong, especially something against the law.

2. A feeling of shame or regret as a result of bad conduct.

Meaning of Forgiveness

1.Forgiveness is the decision one makes to release another person for an offense whether illegal or immoral. 2.Forgiveness is intentional and voluntary. When someone decides to forgive another they choose to let go off negative emotions.

David was a man after God’s own heart, however he made mistakes. He started feeling terribly guilty and rightly so, he had committed a grave sin and needed to be forgiven. David knew Bathsheba was married to Uriah but because of the lust of the flesh David took the life of an innocent man, he caused Uriah to be put in the fore front of a battle so he could be killed in order to have his wife. The full story can be found in 2nd Samuel 11.

Psalms 51:8 KJV stated that David acknowledged his sins so he cried out unto God to give him back his joy, because God had to break him and his desire was to be able to rejoice again.

Guilt can be both good and bad. We can experience “false” guilt – feeling guilty when we have done nothing wrong. Sometimes we have to deal with “parents guilt” if their children happens to make a wrong decision, parents tend to feel guilty about it. They will often ask themselves “what did they do wrong?” Well maybe they did do something that contributed to the situation, or maybe they didn’t. As parents they can ask God to forgive them for any part they’ve played in the matter, he will. Yet in many other types of situations, we place guilt on ourselves that we do not necessarily have to carry.

Sometimes feeling guilty is good, because we have done wrong and need to be corrected. We may need to ask for forgiveness and make restitution to someone else. Sometimes we need to run back to God. But even when we ask God to forgive us, sometimes we still don’t feel forgiven. We know it in our heads but in our hearts we just don’t feel it. What do we do then?. Remember God wants to give you peace and free you from the guilty conscience that is haunting you and restore you.

He is the God Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalms 103:3-5 KJV

We need to remember a few important actions to take when we find ourselves dealing with guilt and needing to accept God’s forgiveness:

1. REMEMBER that what God has forgiven, you have no right to continue feeling guilty about. In other words, if God has forgiven you, then you must be willing to forgive yourself.

2. CONFESS the guilt as though it, in itself, is sin. When you refuse to accept God’s forgiveness, you are saying that Christ’s sacrifice was not enough to handle your sin.

3. DISCIPLINE your mind to stop thinking about whatever keeps making you feel guilty. Satan wants to keep you bound up in guilt so you will be ineffective for God.

4. PASS ALONG THAT FORGIVENESS TO OTHERS Confronting others with the same comfort that you have received helps greatly In the healing process.

If you are in the situation like David who felt like he had not been forgiven:

1. We can ask God to renew your spirit – Psalms 51:10 KJV

2. Restore the joy of your salvation Psalms 51:12KJV

3. Keep silence and wait for the feelings to come on- go teach others- Psalms 51:13KJV

4. Praise God –Psalms 51:15KJV MOVE ON!