By Lois Hewitt

As I stated in an earlier post, this Lent season, I am getting rid of those things that are inhibiting my relationship with Jesus and hurting my overall wellness.

Guilt has long been my daily companion.  As I child, I took on every wrong that happened around me.  As an adult, I lived with the guilt of the things I said and did.

I beat myself up.  I lost many nights of sleep.  I overthought and over compensated for my failures. My guilt made me sick and toxic.

As I started to study more about Christianity, I realized that Jesus does not cause guilt, in fact He is the answer to guilt.  We are made aware of our sins by the Holy Spirit in a way in which we acknowledge the sins, repent and work on being better.

The idea of Jesus dying on the cross for my sins, makes feeling on-going guilt like a slight against the salvation we are so freely given.

So where then does guilt come from?  Guilt is a tool that is used to manipulate and control.  It degrades your sense of self-worth and keeps you in a state of beholding.

There is a definite difference between being aware and repenting of our sins and living under a constant weight of shame and guilt. Jesus does not want His children drowning in a sea of unworthiness. He wants us to acknowledge our sin, ask for forgiveness and pray for strength to overcome.

You cannot overcome when there is a heavy, hard and cold weight around your neck or if the weight of the world is heavy on your shoulders.

Jesus came to show us the true way.  He does, indeed, show us our sins but He also shows us a way to have victory. You can’t have victory if you don’t forgive yourself.

It’s good to have remorse. Many times I learned how not to behave from the remorse I have felt.  It spurred me on to be better. Guilt never gave me anything positive to aid in healing. It inhibits healing.

Now I see the difference between sincere remorse and guilt. I now know where to go with my remorse. I am going to do the wrong things and I am going to say wrong things, humans are flawed. But if you can take the responsibility for your shortcomings and drop them at the foot of the cross, something of a positive nature can happen.

Guilt, in and of itself, never leads to anything positive. It doesn’t change outcomes.  It holds us back.  Guilt says I don’t trust Jesus to able to cleanse me. 

We all have guilt.  You cannot walk this land without it. But you do not have to be under its control. If you want to get better, to be better, you (and I) have to lose the guilt. Go to the cross, sincerely repent with the utmost gratitude for the gift of forgiveness and learn from what has transpired.

Guilt does not make us better. Guilt spurs knee-jerk over corrections that usually make things worse. Jesus died because of our sinful nature. Today I want to honor that sacrifice by giving up on the guilt and falling on my knees at His feet.