How does one overcome guilt?

When I look at myself, I used to see to depth of my depravity. It was very discouraging. I was trapped in guilt and shame. I could not move forward.

But what does Jesus say about me? What does he see when he looks at me? I began to learn that he sees something much different than I do. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E4LA9dy0UpFrsjxKPNn8W6-jMRULfSwqD5voB5O5xg4/edit

So, I had a choice to make: Who would I believe? Would I believe my own sense about who I was, or would I exchange my view for the one Jesus had?

I chose to believe that his vision is better than mine. If my Creator tells me I am forgiven and one with him, who am I to disagree? And, anyway, his picture of me is far better than mine!

There is a godly sorrow that leads to repentance (turning away from sin), but there is also a human guilt that keeps us trapped in sin. I was wallowing in that for a long time. He showed me my mistake and gave me eyes to see reality as he sees it. Once you view the world through his lens, that human guilt evaporates. It was once like a powerful glue that rendered me spiritually immobile. It is now barely a consideration.

How do you overcome guilt? He must set you free from it. He will do this when you believe his view of you instead of your own. When he sets you free, you get to choose each day and each moment if you will continue to believe you are free. Be very careful in what you give your focus and attention to!

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John 6:28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
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John 8:31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
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Galatians 5:1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

 

Discern if the feeling is guilt or shame.
Guilt is the feeling that tells you you did something bad, shame is the feeling that says you are bad.
Guilt, oddly, is a motivating emotion - feeling you did something bad can be used to motivate you to change. Accepting that the action was wrong, but that you are loved by God and can be loved by you - are loved by you - then you can learn from guilt and do better. Why do we say "hate the sin and love the sinner," yet we cannot apply it to ourselves?

Shame says you are bad. Shame holds your head to the sidewalk and gets you to gang up on yourself. God's response to shame, when first encountered in the Garden, was, "who told you you were naked?"

So who told you you were naked?


Who told you you are worthless?