The Bondage of False Guilt
Galatians 5:1
We have all been guilty at one time or another. But what about those times when you have feelings of guilt even when you didn't do anything wrong? We would call this false guilt. Living in false guilt is a life of bondage, but how do we stop and live the life of freedom that God planned for us?
Guilt produces a sense of regret; shame causes us to feel that we are unacceptable.
The Source of False Guilt
An overactive conscience can lead to false guilt.
· An overactive conscience is like a magnet for expectations.
· A person with false guilt and an overactive conscience spends much of his or her life worn out.
The Consequences of False Guilt
Striving without arriving
Constant vigilance
Taking the pack mule approach to life
Religiously Righteous Believers
Christians who struggle with an overactive conscience can produce weak, hollow, compliant, judgmentalbelievers in the church.
The Continuation of False Guilt
The problem with sin is not that is unenjoyable, it is that it is deadly.
A Cure for False Guilt
If we are to break the chain of false guilt, then we must embrace Christ's atonement rather than our own.
Someone with false guilt seeks a form of self- atonement.
Why?
· Indiscriminate shame
· A Propensity to doubt the character of God
