Say Goodbye To Guilt !

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I was raised in an atmosphere of guilt, with guilt the primary motivation for all actions. My parents acted out of guilt and taught us to act based on feelings of guilt.

And chances are... SO WERE YOU.

Look around!  The evidence of the teachings of fear and guilt are all around us. The wrong teachings and false doctrines of our fathers, is clear. So many people are operating out of fear, depression, and a sense of void. The results of man's teachings shows up in our actions as adults: anger, violence, addictions, all signs that something is very wrong. Jesus taught these same messages in His day as well, admonishing often:  "Fear Not!"

We either project our needs outwardly, trying to control others with fear or manipulation, or we project our needs inwardly, through medication, food, or pornography, to name only a few of the nation's current ills.

All of these are vain attempts to fill the void that only God can fill.

All of our actions are a sign that - even as Christians! - we have rejected the free gift that Jesus gave us.

We are attempting to pay for our own sins, whether we realize it or not. Most of the time we are simply acting the way we were taught, or the way our parents/examples acted.

We need to come out of those mindless activities and really consider the TRUTH:
Quote:
Romans 8 AMP

1 THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death.

3 For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [[a]the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],...

CONDEMN = To Judge As Guilty

GUILT = Feelings of Responsibilty For Wrong,
Real OR Imagined

If we really take the above statement to heart, then we can immediately see that feelings of guilt and condemnation are not from God, and are not the way to freedom. Oppressed people oppress others. In fact, there is no way around that. We can only give what we have.

The answer is TO RECEIVE so that we may give out of our abundance:

Quote:
Romans 8:33-35 AMP

33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect [when it is] God Who justifies [that is, Who puts us in right relation to Himself? Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?]

34 Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us?

35 Who shall ever separate us from Christ's love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?

Jesus Himself bore all our sorrows, our afflictions, and He took our death for us. He is now at God's right hand of Power, still standing between us and judgment. We have NOT received a guilty sentence.

In fact, according to verse 33 above, God Himself has acquitted us! And if we take that verse as written, in the present tense, He continues and will continue, to acquit is as often as we are accused.

We have been acquitted -- we are Not Guilty!

Quote:
Luke 6:37 AMP

37 Judge not [neither pronouncing judgment nor subjecting to censure], and you will not be judged; do not condemn and pronounce guilty, and you will not be condemned and pronounced guilty; acquit and forgive and release (give up resentment, let it drop), and you will be acquitted and forgiven and released.

As we have been acuitted, so are we to acquit those who do wrong against us. Forgive as you have been forgiven.

Sometimes forgiving others requires a definite decision.

As God was bringing this lesson home to me last week, I had two chances to practice what He was teaching me. I was accused twice (both wrongly, in my estimation) and lied to. To top it off, the person lying to me was trying to get me to do something for him which was wrong. I got a little defensive, then immediately felt "guilty" about my reaction.

So I made the decision - forgive both of them.

That meant I didn't get to go home and whine about my "bad" day. It also meant that I said - out loud - many times during that day and several days to follow (yes, I tend to hold on to things!) the following prayer:

"God, I forgive them. I don't hold it against them. I also forgive myself for acting rudely. It doesn't matter how I'm treated, I'm to treat others lovingly, and where I fell short, please forgive me. And I receive Your forgiveness right now, and I also forgive myself. Thank You for teaching me!"

And one last confesssion: my own way of dealing with hurt feelings, and feelings of guilt are to punish myself with a headache. So for the next few days, when I began to feel that tightening in the back of my neck, I went through my prayer again, forgiving myself and rebuking that work of the devil: guilt.

Quote:
Revelation 12:10 AMP

10 Then I heard a strong (loud) voice in heaven, saying, Now it has come--the salvation and the power and the kingdom (the dominion, the reign) of our God, and the power (the sovereignty, the authority) of His Christ (the Messiah); for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night, has been cast out!

Even though Satan and his work of guilt and fear has been defeated by our Lord, we still have a part to play: We have to resist him!

We can no longer wallow in self-pity and remorse and continue to tell everyone we encounter how bad we have it. We can no longer afford to exalt the work of the enemy over the work of Jesus.

Resist that guilt by speaking the word of Truth. Resist the enemy and he will flea. Jesus never meant us to live lives of fear and torment. He came that we might have abundant life.

One catch: we have to believe Him, and we have to accept His work. He took our sins so that we are Not Guilty. He took our punishment so that we can live holy lives before God and men.

But we have to believe it and receive it, and so often we have to hear the word of truth in order to have faith in it, for faith comes by hearing. Don't be afraid or embarrased to hear yourself speak the word of truth. It will make you free.

Quote:
Hebrews 1:3 AMP

3 He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high...

Our guilt is gone, but it is our responsibilty to resist it by refusing the accusations, by refuting the lies of the devil.

Saints, this day I call you to live lives of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name!