Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Are you Guilty?


How to cope!


Read Ezekiel 33:10-20Align Center


In a magazine at Walmart the other day I saw an article and the title was “15Ways to relieve your guilty conscience.” I didn’t actually pick up the magazine and flip to the article, but now I kind of wish that I did. I don’t know how many different ways you can say the same thing, but I am guessing the article didn’t tell people 15 different ways to ask God for forgiveness. Today I want to encourage you to think about guilt and what it means in our life.

Have you ever felt guilty for doing something? How did you handle your guilt?

Did your guilt result from a sin you committed in your life?

I am sure the magazine article encouraged those who felt guilty to do something nice for someone, take a hot bath and a glass of wine, or to walk outside and ball their guilt up and throw it into the nothingness of space. Those choices wouldn’t deal with the guilt the just bury it deeper.

Does verse 10 sound like someone who is living with guilt? Does sin tear your life apart and consume joy? According to this passage what does sin do in the life of people?

How often do you make a choice to do something because you have been pretty good? You know it’s the wrong thing to do, but come on you have been doing really well following God and you can always ask forgiveness later! That thought is the devil tempting us to sin and put barriers between ourselves and God.

How do you feel about verse 20? Have you ever thought that the Lord wasn’t just?

What are two things you have some guilt about in your life right now? Why are you feeling guilty about them? Now surrender them to God. Name them specifically and ask forgiveness for whatever sins you might have committed that motivate the guilt. Maybe it’s not something terrible, but that you just didn’t care for your neighbor as well as you cared for yourself.
To ask for forgiveness of sins is nothing new, but for me this study was a reflection on the guilt that I sometimes feel in my life and the source of it. I frequently am convicted that I don’t spend enough time with my family. In the last few weeks I have come to acknowledge in my life that is sometimes a result of my priorities being out of line. I also have been convicted of guilt as I have been tempted to gossip or not care for others. The concept of guilt being a result of sin is one that I hadn’t taken time to recognize.

Prayer: Let us surrender our guilt to you. Help us to look within ourselves and recognize the sins we commit everyday in our lives and to surrender those to you. Help us to not expect that it’s ok if we do this because we have been pretty good or we can ask forgiveness. Help us to be truly men and women of God. AMEN

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Deke, would you be able to send me a letter saying that I volunteered for one week in the summer of 2008, and for two weeks in the summer of 2007? This would be for a service learning credit at my school. If you could, please send it to Xan Wilkins 1422 13th Street Boone, Iowa 50036. My cell # is 515-298-3376 if you have questions. Thanks, Xan W.