The Bondage of False Guilt Part 2
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?
The Source of False Guilt
When you
bring your past into your present you can deeply affect your future.
The Consequences of False Guilt
Striving without arriving
Constant vigilance
·
People
who suffer from false guilt are chronic worriers.
Taking the pack mule
approach to life
Religiously Righteous Believers
Christians who struggle with an
overactive conscience can produce weak, hollow, compliant, judgmental
believers in the church.
The Continuation of False Guilt
“I’m sorry” does not mean I did not enjoy the
sin! The problem with sin is not that it
is unenjoyable, it is that it is deadly.
Temptation is not a sin!
The term for this type of lifestyle
is legalism.
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?
·
The
first is indiscriminate shame.
·
The
second reason for false guilt is a stubborn propensity to doubt the character
of God.
Our sin nature is manifested by two
tendencies: blaming and hiding. When we feel false guilt, we tend
to want to blame others or blame ourselves.