Why Do We Feel Guilty

The simple answer to that question is ... because we are guilty.

The Bible states in Romans 3:23 ... "all have sinned" ... all of us, every single one of us who ever lived have broken God's laws in one way or another. (Except of course Jesus, who was God in the flesh.) It doesn't matter what it was ... sin is sin ... therefore we are guilty of whatever we have committed against God, against someone else or even against ourselves.

The reason we feel guilty is because of something God put in each of us called a conscience ... the inner feeling or voice viewed as an acting guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior. This conscience causes us to be aware of or feel that we have missed the true mark God desires for our lives.

Knowing that we are guilty of wrongdoing causes us to have guilty feelings. In this short discourse, I want to speak about how you can get rid of one of these two, but not the other.

Because it is a fact that you and I have sinned ... we are guilty of that sin. It is something that we cannot change. It happened. It will always be part of our past history. It may be that only you and God may know about it ... but the fact that you know about it is problem enough. Guilty feelings come back whenever you think about that past behavior.

So what should we do about this problem? Well, I believe the first thing one should do after committing a sin, (and I am speaking now to Christian believers as well as non-Christians) is to repent and ask God for forgiveness of that sin.

Now right here, I want to say that even though God can and will forgive any sin ... and even though God has promised to never remember it anymore, and He won't ... but in truth, (now stay with me here) you are still guilty of committing that sin, because you did commit it. It"s just that God no longer holds you accountable for that sin. It's called God's grace and mercy. Your sin is expunged from your record.

Psalms 103:10-12 states very plainly how God deals with us and our sin ... "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." 

Even though God has removed the sin, never to remember it anymore ... the sin was committed ... a fact that can never be changed.

This fact is what I meant when I stated that you can only get rid of one of the two items, your guilt or the guilty feelings produced from sin. So therefore, I conclude that we are guilty of sin, because the act of sin can never be undone, (just forgiven) so the other item ... the guilty feelings ... is the only one we can and should get rid of.

So now, let's deal with the remaining guilty feelings that torment us about certain sins. Do we really believe what God's Word says about forgiveness? Look at 1st John 1:9 ... "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Let's examine this Scripture in detail.

"If we confess our sins" ... forgiveness of sin in Scripture, always supposes that there is a confession, acknowledging and owning up to that sin.

"He is faithful" ... to his promises. God will do what He has assured us He will do in remitting and forgetting our sin. You can trust Him. What other choice do we have?

"And just to forgive us our sins" ... The word "just" is not used as justice, as in (giving us what we deserve,) but it is used meaning ... as an act of mercy. Therefore we may have the fullest assurance that God is ready to pardon and forgive us if we exercise true repentance and faith in Him.

"And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" ... He cleanses us by forgiving all that is in the past, and treating us as if we have always been sinless and righteous.

This act of confession and being forgiven should remove all the guilty feelings of our past sin from our heart and mind. But what if it doesn't? Why are we still troubled with guilty feeling from past, forgiven sins?

There may be more reasons, but here are what I believe are the two main ones. The first one is, "the accuser of the brethren." That's Satan and his fallen spirits. He will try and convince you that God hasn't forgiven your sin, that you aren't worthy enough, that God has given up on you, or that your sin is too great. He will bring it back up and say ... "How could you have done that? What is wrong with you?"

So, how do you fight the devil's argument? This just happens to be the second reason for those remaining guilty feelings. You simply haven't believed God.

For whatever reason ... could it be your own shame over the past sin, or could it be your arrogance? That's right ... your arrogance. Do you think that your sin is so great or special that the blood of Jesus can't wash it away? Are you worse then King David who had a woman's husband killed so he could have the man's wife that he lusted after? God was able to forgive David when he repented. Is your sin greater than the Apostle Paul’s? He said he was the chief of sinners. God forgave him. What makes your sin so great that it causes you to mistakenly believe you can't trust God to forgive you completely?

That's actually what you are doing when you dwell on your guilty feelings from past sins. You are not trusting or believing God. It's that simple. Here's a thought that should help you.

If God has forgiven me ... then there is hope for anyone.

Quit bringing them back up. Yes, they happened ... deal with it. You failed ... who hasn't. If you have asked God to forgive you, then legally ... in God's court of judgment ... they are not there. No charges will ever be brought against you. How do I know that?

The Apostle Paul said this in Romans 8:1 ... "There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus ..."

Don't condemn yourself, and don't let anyone else, including guilty feelings condemn you anymore. Jesus has set you free.

Stay free.



Comments welcome.