Say “No” to Guilt

“Forever loved.” “Always Mine.” “Beloved.” These are the nicknames that I hear whispered in my ears. I have a very amazing Father!

I was talking to someone today about guilt. My friend said she felt guilty and I related to it as if it was a good thing. You know, if you do something bad what keeps you from doing it again unless you feel guilt for it? And then I remembered God’s love. I took back what I said and this anger towards guilt rose up inside. There was this passion against the lie of guilt, the lie that guilt could ever be a good feeling.

Then I explained why I don’t think guilt is ever a good thing. It is actually really crazy to admit, but God never wants us to feel guilty! His love is not so weak that He cannot love us through our failures. Conviction is good, recognizing your wrong doings is good, repentance is good. Guilt and shame are never good. They never bring healthy fruit.

I thought about telling this to someone who had committed a serious sin, like murder or rape. The mercy of the Lord would tell them not to feel guilty. The mercy of my Father would touch deeper than a fear of punishment. The mercy of God would say, “My child, even still, receive My love.” This is what amazes me! What great love the Father has for us!

Oh do not think lightly of the riches of God’s kindness and tolerance and patience! For it is His kindness that leads us to repentance. There is a transformative power in love. It is the same type of power that raised Jesus from the dead. Guilt does not have this power. Guilt does not carry supernatural power. It may push us to try harder and be more strictly disciplined, but never, never will guilt carry us on wings like eagles up to the Father. Only love will do this.

This is the God I have! When Moses needed help to keep pressing forward God showed up. The first thing my God said was, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” This is what He declared about Himself, this is how God describes Himself. This is the essence of His name. Ephesians 1:7 says that in Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance to the riches of His grace.

God also spoke to a prophet of old saying that He will forget our sins. But this is God! We know how hard it is to forget when we have been wronged. Yet God goes so far as to say that He forgets our sin. This is the power of love. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love has the power to lead an all-knowing God to forget our wrongs against Him and one another. Or should I put it this way, Love, Himself, lays aside His ability to know our sins for the inexpressible delight He has in being close to us.

What manner of love is this? I know of none other!