When I refused to confess my
sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline
was heavy on me. My strength evaporated
like water in the summer heat. Psalm
32:3-4
If we confess our sins, he who
is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NRSV)
So far in this series, in part 1, we’ve looked at how Reuben
and his 10 brothers were consumed with guilt over selling their youngest
brother into slavery, and Peter’s well-published guilt over denying the Christ
he said he’d die for. Added to those were
the contrast of the sociopathic thief on the cross next to Jesus who mocked,
and the remorseful penitent who asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered
His kingdom. We said with Isaiah that nobody is righteous; we have all fallen short with our sins: We feel guilty
because we ARE guilty.
In part 2 we looked at how false it is to develop our ways
of dealing with guilt – denial, or
blaming others for what was (clearly) our choice. The little boy in his white Sunday suit, who
was told to stay clean, chased the family pet beagle, Buster, with a can of
green paint, and wound-up caught, busted…paintbrush in hand. Peter was caught in his betrayal. King David was nailed by a prophet’s bold
accusation. Guilt consumes us from the
inside-out, and there’s no such thing as a secret sin! There’s no
wondering about where the old saying comes from: No peace for the wicked.
Friend, if you’re eaten-up with guilt over something and
have not confessed it to God, you will never feel forgiven because you aren’t
forgiven!
So…what to do?
Here are a few simple, but vital steps to take
1. Make certain you confess your sin
Don’t rationalize (hide the evidence or shift blame)…God
already knows you’re a sinner… just confess, admit it to Him and be forgiven.
2. Be humble – learn from past mistakes
You cannot do anything about what happened yesterday,
but God rejoices in your confession, and loves to forgive and rebuild you!
3. Pray for growth to use your past for kingdom good
Stand ready to help others in the areas you’ve been
blessed by forgiveness.
4. Spend time thanking God for his blessings
This is why we have the Lord’s table…come, ye forgiven, and beloved sinners...and rejoice!
For You Today
Guilt was never
God’s intended inner profile for His human children. That’s why He came to us in a manger,
innocent, and ready to die for us, so we can be forgiven, cleansed, washed
whiter than snow…and restored to fellowship with our Creator. Don’t miss THAT!
There
are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library. To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some
of these:
Old Brooms & Common Sense and Black Ice
[1] Images: via Pixabay.com Unless
noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
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