The Guilt Factor

Psalm 98:2
The LORD has made known His salvation. His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.

You can't see it....
But you sure can feel it....
It's there, weighing you down and twisting your very being into a contortion of pain and suffering.
"What?" you may ask.
Guilt....
The self inflicted, condemning, name calling burden that a lot of folks carry around.
Oh, you can smile and act like nothing is wrong.
You can hug others and chit chat in an effort to put up a front.
But the very presence of guilt drives into you like a rusty nail into hardwood.
.......and it hurts.
.......and it sucks the very life from your soul.
Guilt is usually directed toward your behavior...
You've done something wrong and in the process have judged yourself.
Such a mindset will, if left unchecked, lead to a feeling of shame.
Shame is directed toward you as a person.
In fact, these two, working in tandem, have brought down many a person who is trying to recover from the bondage of addiction.

That is why, when moving into recovery, you understand who you are in the eyes of God.
To find your worth in Him and not in what you've done.
You see, we have been brought up with a wrong understanding as to who God thinks we are.
Look at it this way....
When you were a little kid and you did something really good for your mother, what did she call you?  "Oh! Johnny is such a good boy!" Or, "Sally is such a good girl!" But, on the other hand, when you got into trouble, or you broke something that your mother or father loved..what did you hear? "Johnny, you're a bad boy!" or "Sally, you're a bad girl!". As you grow up, you begin to define yourself by what you've done. You get your self worth from this skewed way of thinking.

Now, move down through the years, and couple in a lifestyle of addiction. Now how does one view themselves? I done terrible things...therefore I am a terrible person. Such is the load of guilt that is carried around. This foster's insecurity, hatred of yourself, and a ton of guilt and shame. Every time this feeling surfaces, no matter how hard a person may be trying to change, it drives us back down into a pit of hatred for who we are and what we have done. 

So what is the answer to this character defect that we carry around?
Simple....
I John 4: 9-10
In this the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God (first) but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (Payment) for our sins.

God says, "I love you...and I have paid the price to call you into a new way of seeing yourself."
Now if God can say that, with what all I have done, then why can I not totally turn loose of all the guilt and shame? Why can I not be that new person....that new creation when I turn will and life over to His care? Truth is ...you can.
God deals with the person, before work begins on the behavior. SO when the guilt and shame come back to see if they can get in my head, I remind myself that I am no longer that person who carried that load in the past. I fill myself with Scripture that defines and tells me who I am in Christ. The person I once was, has changed...the behavior I once did, is a work in progress as I move forward in my relationship with God.

Because of Christ's redemption

I am a new creation of infinite worth

I am deeply loved

I am fully pleasing

I am completely forgiven

I am totally accepted

I am absolutely complete in Christ.

When my performance (Or behavior) reflects

my new identity in Christ

That reflection is dynamically unique

There has never been another person like me

in the history of mankind

Nor will there ever be.
I am a one of a kind person

A special person

And so are you

Just for today.

God on you...

mb