Guilty or Not Guilty

The feeling of guilt is something we all face, Christians and non-Christians alike. In some schools of thought, there shouldn't be any guilt in the life of a Christian, since, Christ died on the cross for our guilt, our shame, most importantly our sin. But, what brings us to repent? What brings us to know that the way we've been living is wrong? Very simple, conviction. And from conviction, can, and should, come some guilt for what we've done.
     But, what about the other type of guilt? The guilt that holds you down, weighs on your heart so heavy that you want to hide your face in a pillow forever? That is something that is not healthy. That is guilt from condemnation. There is a huge difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction says, man, I really messed up, I was wrong, but I am going to learn from it and with God's help I know I can do better. Condemnation is, I messed up. I am stupid, a loser and will never be able to do anything right. Now you may have experienced condemnation from a friend, parent, teacher, guardian, etc. This guilt that you're feeling from that act is something you should pray that God lift right now. And you don't have to feel guilty about coming to God about it, at all. There is no hiding it. He already knows, and it's ok to go to him.
     As you may or may not know, the primary ministry and goal of this blog is to reach out to the people battling depression, the abused, the broken, the scarred. I want to end with something so very important. You will have people telling you how you can and can't feel. Well, something I learned a long time ago. Never apologize for what you feel. Your feelings aren't the problem, even if you feel something for a stupid reason. You need to work past it and yes there are times you shouldn't feel certain ways, but when you do, the point is, you do. And nobody should invalidate that. They should help you through it and help you to handle it in a way that is beneficial to you and others involved. It's not how you feel that is the problem, it's what you do to handle it. Don't ever let anyone make you feel guilty for being sad, or angry, for having emotions. But instead, if you know Christ, take those feelings to him and he will give you peace, that only he can give. I pray this encourages all of you. May the peace of God be with you. Hold your head high and remember that Christ died for you. He made it so you don't have to hide from God. You can come to him with anything and lay it at his feet and leave it there. It's that awesome!