Question 1

How does God define guilt in the Bible?

Accepted Answer

Exodus 20:13-14“You must not murder. You must not commit adultery.”2 Samuel 12:9“Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.”Psalm 51:3-4I [David] 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.Guilt comes from doing something wrong—for instance, breaking God’s laws (sin). King David broke God’s commands against adultery and murder. Guilt is both a legal reality and a feeling. Under God’s laws, David was guilty of sin, regardless of what David felt or believed. When David’s friend, Nathan, confronted him, David also felt convicted of his guilt. David recognized that he had done something incredibly evil, and he regretted what he had done. David expressed this guilt and regret in Psalm 51.Matthew 5:27-29“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”Matthew 5:21-22“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.”James 2:10-11The person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.It’s easy to look at the story of David’s sins and think, “I’ve never done anything that bad.” While some sins may carry heavier judgments than others, all sin is sin. A man who never commits adultery but looks at women lustfully is still guilty. A woman who never commits murder but who mocks and belittles a coworker is still guilty. Jesus firmly warns us that the sins we think “aren’t that bad” are still sin and have consequences.Leviticus 5:17“Suppose you sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands. Even if you are unaware of what you have done, you are guilty and will be punished for your sin.”Luke 12:47-48“A servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly.”We are considered guilty of sin even when our sin is accidental. Such sin is less evil than sin that is done on purpose, but it is still sin.Psalm 51:5For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.Romans 3:10As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one.”Romans 5:12, 18When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. . . . Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone.The Bible teaches that humanity’s first sin—Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s command—brought guilt and sinfulness to all of humanity. None of us starts with a clean slate. All of us are born with sinful desires in our hearts, and all of us are guilty for breaking God’s laws.Psalm 51:1-12Have 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. . . . Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.Romans 3:19, 23Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. . . . For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.1 John 1:8If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.Scripture is clear: All of us are guilty of sin. All of us have done evil. None of us have fully lived the way God calls us to live.Genesis 3:9-10Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”Guilt can make us feel dirty, stained by our mistakes and regrets. It can be tempting to try to hide our guilt—and hide from God. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God and made excuses after they sinned, but naturally, God knew exactly what they had done. When God confronted David through his prophet, instead of making excuses, David acknowledged his guilt and asked God to forgive him and change him. He leaned toward God rather than away from him. This is how we should respond to guilt as well!Romans 8:1-2So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.2 Corinthians 7:10For 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.Revelation 12:10It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.One of Satan’s tactics when it comes to guilt is to overburden us with feelings of condemnation over our sin. Condemnation is judgment without hope, the sense that it’s too late for us to change so there’s no point in trying. Scripture tells us that there is no condemnation for believers, thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice for us! In contrast to condemnation, conviction is a good thing. Conviction is the recognition of sin. It is the kind of guilt that leads us to repent, to seek forgiveness from God and others, and to change for the better.Romans 2:4Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?Romans 6:1-2Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?Romans 14:23But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.Galatians 5:13For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.Another of Satan’s tactics when it comes to guilt is the opposite of condemnation. Instead of overwhelming us with guilt, he tries to harden our hearts so we will no longer feel the prick of guilt when we sin: “That’s too small a sin to matter.” “Everyone does this; should it really be called a sin?” “If God loved me, he would want me to be happy.” These lies and many others obscure a crucial truth: Sin hurts us and others. God does not want to merely free us from the punishment of sin—he wants to free us from sin’s influence and consequences, too. Healthy guilt brings us the conviction we need to resist sin.2 Chronicles 33:1-17Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. . . . Manasseh also sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. . . . Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God! . . . Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the Lord their God.King Manasseh had a godly father, but he rejected his father’s example. Instead, Manasseh literally burned his children alive as sacrifices to pagan gods. The pagan shrines he built led his entire nation and future generations to turn away from God. Manasseh had multiple chances to repent, but he rejected God’s warnings. It was only after the Assyrians took him from his kingdom and imprisoned him that Manasseh sincerely repented and turned to God. God’s response? God had compassion and listened to his prayer. No matter how much we have sinned, no matter how many times we have ignored God’s voice, he still longs for us to come to him. Repentance may not undo all our mistakes—there are natural consequences to our sins. Manasseh’s sins hurt many people for generations to come. But repentance can allow God to change us, just like God changed Manasseh.Luke 15:11To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”Being forgiven does not always mean feeling forgiven. Sometimes, shame and guilt linger, and we doubt whether anyone, especially God, could ever forgive us. The younger son in Jesus’s parable felt that way. After the way he had treated his father and his inheritance, he knew he was unworthy of his father’s love—but that didn’t change his father’s love for him. It’s the same for you. No matter how far you have run, no matter what sins you have committed, your heavenly Father is waiting for you with open arms. He longs for you to repent, to turn away from all of that and come to him. When you do, he celebrates!Leviticus 5:5“When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin.”Proverbs 28:13People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.Some of us feel regret at being caught more than guilt over what we have done. Some of us feel guilt and are genuinely remorseful over what we have done, but we are afraid of acknowledging that guilt in front of God and other people. Instead, we stifle our guilt, or we fill our lives with distractions to help us temporarily forget our guilt. The Bible commands us to face our guilt honestly and confess our fault. This is the first step toward learning from our mistakes, finding forgiveness, and moving forward.Matthew 5:23-24“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.”Acts 3:19“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”2 Corinthians 7:10The 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.Guilt can prompt us to repent, but repentance is more than feeling guilty. While it is good and healthy to feel remorse about our sin, if that sorrow leads us into depression and despair, that’s not the kind of sorrow God wants us to have. To repent means to turn away from one thing to another. It involves action! Pray to God for forgiveness. Ask for forgiveness from those you have sinned against. Do what you can to make things right and move forward. Instead of merely regretting the past, repentance sets its sights on a better future and takes active steps to live it out.2 Peter 3:9The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.Revelation 3:19“I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.”God loves us as we are, but he loves us too much to leave us as we are. Just as a loving parent disciplines a child for hurting his sister, our loving heavenly Father disciplines us when our actions harm us or others. His longs for us to repent—to turn both our hearts and our actions to align with what is good.Matthew 23:23-24“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!”Luke 11:46“Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.”Some of us beat ourselves up for falling short of human standards. In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders added additional rules to God’s laws to make sure everyone obeyed those laws as strictly as possible. God’s laws required that a tenth of the harvest be given to God (Deuteronomy 14:22-23), so the Pharisees not only tithed from their farming crops, but also from the spices they grew in their herb gardens. Tithing, even tithing the little things, was not a bad thing to do. However, the Pharisees focused so much on minor details that they lost the main point: to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 12:28-34). Sometimes, we also become so focused on following human rules—and feeling guilty when we fall short—that we lose sight of the purpose God has given us and what matters most. Such guilt becomes a heavy and unnecessary burden.Psalm 32:1-5Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! 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. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.Matthew 11:28-30Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”God does not want us to live lives burdened by guilt or sin. Some people are constantly burdened by guilt to the point that they become anxious and depressed (condemnation). Other people ignore legitimate guilt (conviction), instead dulling their consciences and continuing to do the same things that harm them and others. Neither of these approaches leads to the joyful and honest life God wants his children to live. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross pays the ultimate price for our guilt. He freely offers to take that burden from our shoulders. But more than that, we can look forward to a new life free from the tyranny of sin’s control, a life that follows in the footsteps of Jesus.

Question 2

What is the difference between guilt and shame?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 119:31I cling to your laws. Lord, don’t let me be put to shame!Jeremiah 20:18My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.Guilt comes from disobedience to God’s laws. Shame comes from the judgments of others and from our own self-condemnation, neither of which can be trusted to reflect God’s opinion accurately. While shame can come from our sins, it may instead come from social pressures, painful circumstances, or other experiences. The psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 and the prophet Jeremiah were both faithful followers of God, yet both experienced deep shame unrelated to sin.2 Samuel 12:7-13Then Nathan said to David, “. . . Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. . . . Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”2 Samuel 13:11-19But as she [Tamar] was feeding him [Amnon], he grabbed her and demanded, “Come to bed with me, my darling sister.” “No, my brother!” she cried. “Don’t be foolish! Don’t do this to me! Such wicked things aren’t done in Israel. Where could I go in my shame? And you would be called one of the greatest fools in Israel. Please, just speak to the king about it, and he will let you marry me.” But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her.David experienced shame from being called out by his friend Nathan, but more significantly, David experienced guilt. He and he alone was to blame for what had happened. Tamar, on the other hand, experienced great trauma and shame even though she wasn’t guilty—she had done nothing wrong. While guilt always comes from our own actions, shame often comes from things outside our control.Romans 1:16I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.2 Timothy 1:8So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.Hebrews 12:2We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.1 Peter 2:20Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.1 Peter 4:16It is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!Jesus suffered shame—stripped naked, whipped and beaten, then pinned to a cross for all to mock and jeer at him. Crucifixion was the greatest public shame imaginable, yet somehow, it only added to Jesus’ glory. Many Christians have followed in Jesus’s steps over the centuries, suffering pain and shame for God’s Good News. Public shame may come from humble, sincere obedience to Christ. Such shame should not be viewed as a sign of guilt, but as a sign of love and obedience.

Question 3

How do I know if my guilt is legitimate and based on truth?

Accepted Answer

Proverbs 29:25Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.Galatians 1:10Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.Guilt comes from disobedience to God. Shame comes from the judgment of others and our own self-condemnation, neither of which can be trusted to reflect God’s opinion. When our feelings of guilt are disproportionate, misguided, or unnecessary, those feelings may not be guilt after all, but shame. For instance, we might feel ashamed because we didn’t get enough of our to-do list done (self-condemnation) or because we missed an event we were expected to attend (others’ judgment). Becoming more like Jesus does not mean becoming perfect in every way and always making everyone happy. Shame can become a burden and a distraction, weakening our ability to focus on what God is asking of us.Mark 1:35-38Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.”Even if we could become exactly like Jesus, some people would still be unhappy with our priorities. People were clamoring for Jesus’s attention, but instead, he spent time alone in prayer. Then, rather than staying as the people of Capernaum asked, Jesus moved ahead to the next town. Jesus had a clear sense of his priorities, and he knew that pleasing his heavenly Father sometimes required displeasing people.Matthew 12:9-12Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.) And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.”Mark 2:27Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.”Luke 11:42“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”Some of us beat ourselves up for falling short of the standards of other believers. In Jesus’s day, the religious leaders had added additional rules to God’s laws to make sure everyone obeyed those laws as strictly as possible. God’s laws required a tenth of the harvest be given to God (Deuteronomy 14:22-23). So the Pharisees not only tithed from their farming crops but also from the spices they grew in their herb gardens. God’s laws prohibited work in the Sabbath, so the Pharisees criticized Jesus’ healing of people on the Sabbath. In their obsession with the letter of God’s laws, the Pharisees added human commands to God’s Word and lost sight of the heart behind his laws. Their rules not only created guilt and fear among their followers—they also contradicted the purpose behind God’s commands.1 Corinthians 12:12-18The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. . . . If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it.Some of us put unrealistic expectations on ourselves, often by comparing ourselves to others, which leads to self-condemnation. It’s good to communicate our faith to others—that doesn’t mean we’ll all be public speakers. It’s good to work hard and give generously to those in need—that doesn’t mean we’ll all have lucrative careers. It’s good to raise children in the faith—that doesn’t mean all believers marry and have children. If we feel guilty for not serving in the same way as other believers, that doesn’t mean we are useless to the body of Christ. Far from it! Paul emphasizes that a body is made of many parts with many roles, and if we all had the same gifts, the body of Christ wouldn’t function properly. Seek the Spirit’s leading in how to use your unique gifts to bless others.John 21:19-22Jesus told him, “Follow me.” Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?” Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”The apostle Peter himself struggled with guilt and comparing himself to others. After Peter’s denial of Jesus, Jesus offered him a second chance, repeating his command to “follow me.” But in that moment, rather than seizing the invitation, Peter was busy comparing himself to another apostle, John. Perhaps Peter couldn’t help comparing his cowardly denial to the faithfulness of John, the disciple who stayed by Jesus’ side even during the crucifixion (John 19:25-27). Perhaps Peter wondered how his future might have been different if he had been faithful like John. Jesus responded by saying that John’s future was not Peter’s business, and that Peter should simply focus on following Jesus. The guilt of our past may leave a mark. Others may succeed where we once failed. But none of that means God is done with us. God used both John and Peter in amazing ways. He can use us, too, if we simply follow him.Galatians 1:6-7I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all.Galatians 3:3How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?Galatians 5:4-6If you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.Legalism is the belief that we have to earn God’s love and forgiveness through becoming perfect, and it fills people with guilt. Legalism comes from doubting the truth of God’s grace and forgiveness. “God can’t love me as I am. I must have to obey these commands to earn his love and his salvation.” If you feel this way, study the book of Galatians to learn the truth of how God loves you. In the early church, some people were claiming that Christians had to become circumcised and obey all the Jewish rules in order to be saved. The apostle Paul strongly disagreed!Romans 6:1-4Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.1 John 2:6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.A legalist doubts God’s love because of their sin: “God couldn’t possibly love a person like me.” A licentious person doubts God’s love because of God’s commands. “If God truly loved me, he wouldn’t make me give up this sin.” Both of these beliefs misunderstand God’s love! God offers us forgiveness through Jesus’ sacrifice, and accepting that gift in faith is all we need to do to receive it. No works are needed to earn the free gift of salvation. However, God loves us too much to simply leave us stumbling about in sin, harming ourselves and others. He wants to not only free us from sin’s punishment, but also from sin’s influence. We were not merely saved from something. We were saved for something. We have been given the opportunity to live like Jesus—to live lives of truth, goodness, and joy. Sin has no place in such a life.Romans 12:1-2And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.1 John 2:3-6We can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.If a trusted loved one warned you not to do something, would you do it anyway? No. You would take them at their word because you love them, trust them, and want to respect them. It’s the same with God. If we love, trust, and respect God, we will seek to honor him with our actions. It is appropriate to feel guilty when we disobey and disrespect God’s commands. Such guilt can prompt us to change for the better.Matthew 5:27-29“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”John 12:25-26“Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.”1 Corinthians 3:11-15No one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.1 John 2:15-17Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.Sometimes, we feel guilty for doing something we know is wrong—but we cling to the sin anyway. Jesus took sin incredibly seriously because he knew the eternal consequences. Our lives are built on the firm foundation of Jesus’ salvation. That is a gift we do not have to earn. But what we build on that foundation—the way we live our lives and the way we change the lives of others—will either have an eternal impact for good or be worthless in the end. Live like eternity matters!2 Corinthians 7:10The 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.1 John 2:1-2My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.Sometimes, even if we feel guilty for the right reason, that guilt can take root in an unhealthy way and lead to feelings of condemnation. Condemnation is judgment without hope. Condemnation tells us that it’s too late (or too hard) to change, so there’s no point in repenting. Condemnation paralyzes us, trapping us more firmly in apathy, despair, and sin. In contrast, healthy, legitimate guilt leads to conviction. Conviction prompts us to repent and change for the better.1 Corinthians 11:1You should imitate me [Paul], just as I imitate Christ.Philippians 3:12-14I [Paul] don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.1 Timothy 1:15-16This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I [Paul] am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.Guilt plays an important purpose in our lives. It enables us to recognize our sin. It prompts us to reflect and learn from our mistakes. But if we constantly dwell on our failures, repeatedly seeking forgiveness for a sin God has already forgiven, then we are missing the point. We are looking backward at our past, rather than forward toward Jesus. Paul himself once participated in the imprisonment and even murder of Christians, but then Jesus changed him. Rather than punishing himself for the guilt of his past, Paul rejoiced in the forgiveness he was given and set his eyes on becoming more like Jesus. May we all follow his example!Psalm 119:9-11How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. I have tried hard to find you—don’t let me wander from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.2 Timothy 3:16-17All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.The best way to know if your guilt is legitimate is to know your Bible well. What does the Bible actually say on this topic? Hopefully, this app proves a helpful resource, but don’t stop there. Read the Bible chapter by chapter, not just standalone verses. Join a Bible study group and learn alongside other believers. Learn about the cultures and history of Bible times. Take notes during your pastor’s sermons. Ask questions of other wise and knowledgeable believers. Memorize verses that are especially important to you. Even the most knowledgeable believers can continue to learn new things from God’s Word!

Question 4

What should I do with my guilt?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 3:6-8The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.Leviticus 5:5“When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin.”Proverbs 28:13People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.Hebrews 4:12-13The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.Some of us stifle our guilt. Others of us fill our lives with distractions to help us temporarily forget our guilt. Like Adam and Eve, many of us try to hide our guilt from others—and even from God, as if it were possible to hide our guilt from an all-knowing God! The Bible commands us to face our guilt honestly and confess our faults to God and others. This is the first step toward learning from our mistakes, finding forgiveness, and moving forward.Psalm 51:1-4Have 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.All sin is first and foremost a sin against God. David wrote Psalm 51 as a prayer of repentance to God for his sins of adultery and murder. Read the full psalm to see how David expresses his guilt, true repentance, and hope in a restored relationship with God.Matthew 5:23-24“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.”Matthew 5:46-48“If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”Romans 12:17-18Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.If you have sinned against someone else, apologize and repent. Even if it’s embarrassing. Even if that person also sinned against you. Even if you don’t like that person. Jesus puts such a high priority on apologizing that he encourages us to drop what we are doing and go make things right as soon as we realize we are at fault.Acts 8:1Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen.Acts 9:1-4Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. . . . He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”Acts 9:26When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe he had truly become a believer!Saul, more often known as the apostle Paul, used to imprison and murder Christians. Even after his miraculous conversion, the reality of what he had done had lasting consequences. Many believers had suffered because of his actions, and even believers who were willing to forgive him struggled to trust him. Be patient with anyone struggling to forgive you or trust you after what you have done. Patiently show the truth of your repentance with your actions.Luke 19:1-10Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way. When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”Zacchaeus was one of the most hated sinners in his entire region. Not only had he betrayed his Jewish people to work for the oppressive Roman government, but he also oppressed the people by charging more than the government required (and keeping the extra money for himself). It wasn’t enough for Zacchaeus to merely say he was a different person, or even to stop cheating people. He needed to accept responsibility for his sins and do what he could to make things right. Zacchaeus sacrificed his enormous wealth to do exactly that. We, too, are called to offer restitution to those we have personally wronged.Proverbs 29:25Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.Galatians 1:10Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.Some guilt is disproportionate, misguided, or unnecessary. We might feel guilty for forgetting to thank someone, or feel guilty for not being able to finish everything a coworker requested. While it’s good to set standards for ourselves and do our best, becoming more like Jesus does not mean becoming perfect in every way and making everyone happy. That is an unrealistic expectation. Such guilt becomes a burden and a distraction, weakening our ability to focus on what God is actually asking of us.Acts 3:19“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”2 Corinthians 7:10The 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.Guilt can prompt us to repent, but repentance is more than feeling guilty. While is good and healthy to feel remorse about our sin, if that sorrow leads us into depression and despair, that’s not the kind of sorrow God wants us to have. To repent means to turn away from one thing to another. It involves action! Pray to God for forgiveness. Ask for forgiveness from those you have sinned against. Do what you can to make things right and move forward. Instead of merely regretting the past, repentance sets its sights on a better future and takes steps to live it out.Luke 22:56-62A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began staring at him. Finally she said, “This man was one of Jesus’ followers!” But Peter denied it. “Woman,” he said, “I don’t even know him!” After a while someone else looked at him and said, “You must be one of them!” “No, man, I’m not!” Peter retorted. About an hour later someone else insisted, “This must be one of them, because he is a Galilean, too.” But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. At that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Suddenly, the Lord’s words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And Peter left the courtyard, weeping bitterly.Paul and Peter were the most influential apostles of the early church, yet both carried their share of sin and guilt. While Paul’s murderous past was before he became a believer, Peter’s sin of denying Jesus came after years of walking daily with him. Peter’s guilt shook him. It was hard for him to start again. But Jesus called him to do just that, using the very same words he first called Peter with: “Follow me” (see Matthew 4:18-19, John 21:22). Like Peter, we may question whether our guilt is so great that we have forfeited our right to follow Jesus. The truth is, none of us have a right to follow Jesus, but by God’s grace, we are called to follow him all the same. When your guilt feels too heavy to bear, remember Peter. God wasn’t finished with him, and he isn’t finished with you, either.Philippians 3:12-14I [Paul] don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.Hebrews 12:1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faithGuilt over genuine sin is a good thing. It encourages us to learn from our mistakes. It prompts us to change for the better. However, if we are dwelling on old sins and beating ourselves up over our guilt, that’s not what Scripture calls us to do. Paul encourages us to forget our past mistakes and focus on the joy ahead of us, Jesus! Our greatest motivator should be our desire to become more like him, and while we will stumble on that path, those missteps are far less significant than the destination.