Antidote To Guilt

It's still early in this new year.  Day 19 out of 365.  The holiday season is receding in our memories.  New Year's resolutions for many have come and gone. The Christmas tree is chipped.  Decorations are packed away.  Recycled packaging has been picked up.  While we clear away the clutter of the holiday season, we sometimes feel a nagging sense of guilt that seems to carry from one season into the next.  As the credit card bills begin to fill up our mailboxes, so these guilt feelings seem to settle on us like a shadow on our hearts. Where do these feelings come from and what can we do about them?

One source of guilt feelings comes because, during the season, we've done things that are harmful and wrong.  We've gone beyond the boundaries of what is right and good, helpful and kind.  We've given into temptation.  We've reacted in frustration. We've chosen to live in our own self-will rather than follow God's way.

We're not alone.  From the beginning of time, through the centuries and up until the present, people have been choosing to walk independent of God's guidance and the safe boundaries God has put into human living.  From Adam and Eve to terrorists in France, we've lived in ways that have caused harm to ourselves or others.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God's paths to follow our own.  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:23 NLT)

The good news is that we don't have to be stuck forever in this guilt.  God has made a way for us.  If we admit we've done wrong, failed to do what is right and ask God to forgive us, God's promise is that he will. 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  (1 John 1:9 NIV)

There are many words we can use in our confession but the main issue is that we sincerely admit that we are wrong, choose to turn away from our wrongdoing, and make a choice to rely on God's forgiveness and power to take us forward on a new path. 

Let's clear the slate before we get too far into the new year.  Let's receive God's forgiveness and re-align our thoughts and emotions in the unfailing love of God as we build a solid foundation for 2015.

©2015 Partners in Hope