One Simple Truth - Day 14: Guilt can be your friend.

“Fools make fun of guilt, but the godly acknowledge it and seek reconciliation.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭14‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Later in my father‘s life, he experienced many burns on his fingers. Now, these injuries were not the result of my father being clumsy or careless around things that can cause burns; rather, they were actually the result of him holding his coffee cup.

To explain: You see because of nerve damage, the fingers with which my father held his coffee cup, were numb. He could not feel the pain that would have triggered him to move his fingers. Therefore, he would continue to hold the cup, only finding out later of the injury by seeing the resulting blisters. Sadly, such injuries are not uncommon in people who have lost feeling in parts of their body due to neuropathy.

As well, you may or may not be aware that there are some people born with the inability to feel any kind of pain! With congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), terrible injuries, even death, easily occur because they don’t know when they are damaging their body until they see the results of the Injury.

You see, as much as we all would like to go the rest of our lives without feeling the impact of a stubbed toe, the crushing pain of a migraine, or the incapacitation of other severe pain, the fact remains that the ability to feel pain, is our friend. And clearly, doing away with the warning pain offers, does not do away with the injury.

Just as we should be grateful that we can feel pain, even when it makes us uncomfortable, we should also be thankful for our ability to feel guilty, or if you will, feel convicted, concerning sin.

Paul told Timothy that having a dead conscience— one that no longer felt the sting of sin—would be common in the last days.

“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.”

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT

I fear that in some churches’ attempts to make people feel better, less guilty (and be more likely to come back to church), they have redefined sin as acceptable behavior. Some even go as far to say that a guilty conscience indicates a lack of trusting what God did through Jesus Christ.

Now, whereas we know that once we have confessed our sins and truly repented, turning away from those sins, to continue to feel guilty about what we have done in the past, is condemnation and is not pleasing to God.

First, the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God is what leads to repentance and the turning of our life over to Jesus Christ when we come to faith in Him. But for those who are saved, the need for guilt from the conviction of the Holy Spirit, is not over. Guilt from conviction can save us from going further into sin, running the risk of turning away from God without even knowing it.

Paul had found it necessary to severely condemn the church at Corinth for their sinful behavior and their rejection of the truth. However, his confrontation of their sin, brought them to repentance. Now we know that probably not every single one of the guilty parties allowed Paul’s discipline to lead them to repentance. But apparently, most of them did respond with repentance and good works.

“I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In his commentary back to the Corinthians, Paul makes a distinction between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow, or worldly guilt and godly guilt.

You see, when a person experiences the distress of sin, without repenting, without changing their ways, the only thing they are left with is regret: no repentance, no change, but plenty of regret. That is what characterizes worldly sorrow, often manifesting itself as depression, self-pity and despair.

On the other hand, the kind of sorrow God wants us to have prompts us to repent, crying out to the Lord to have mercy on us, then accepting His forgiveness as we go on to serve Him.

Such was the reaction of King David when his sin was exposed by the prophet of God.

“Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In our opening scripture, we see the proverbial writer commenting that only fools refuse to acknowledge their guilt. However, those who are godly (or would be godly), do what it takes to make it right.

Child of God, if you are feeling guilty about something you have done or failed to do, wait no longer, go before the Lord and throw yourself on His is mercy. Ask Him to help you to get back to righteousness. Then pick up your cross where you left it, forgetting what is behind, to follow Jesus.

Godly sorrow, or guilt, is not a problem. It is a warning. Heed that warning.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim

#onesimpletruth