Carrying the guilt or regret of your decisions, lifestyle or something that you did in the past can be very burdensome and unsettling. Are you constantly feeling weighed down by the thoughts that you have let yourself down, you feel defeated and incapacitated by regrets that constantly bombard your mind?
Firstly, it is good news to know that this is not an unusual experience and it's a sign of a healthy conscience. The Spirit warns of people in the last days whose consciences are "seared with a hot iron", meaning dead conscience - 1 Timothy 4:2 (NKJKV). This is a grave state of depravity in which it is near impossible to bring such people to repentance. For a Christian, the blood of Christ has cleansed their conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14) making it sensitive and responsive towards God. Paul the Apostle was finally glad that he wrote hard letters to the Corinthian church that led to their repentance, saying.
"I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. 10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death" (2 Corinthians 7:8-10).
Goldy remorse is good for your repentance, but asking for forgiveness out of the obligation to do so does not reflect a truly heart of repentance. Under the old system, the Jews performed regular sacrifices for their sins because their guilt did not go away.
" If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared." (Hebrews 10:2).
Perfect repentance leads to perfect cleansing and freedom from guilts. The promise of God for those who are in Christ is:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1).
So, in summary, if you are feeling guilts and regrets despite repenting of your sins,
- First, be happy that your conscience still works.
- Be sure you have not only repented out of obligation - just to fulfil all righteousness.
- Takes full responsibility for your actions. True repentance does not cover up wrongs with excuses or shifts blame to others.
- Be absolutely sure your repentance is perfect! Perfect repentance leads to perfect cleansing and freedom from guilts.
I believe that if you apply this understanding of true repentance, you be completely liberated from your guilt-haunted conscience.
Please reach out to us at any time if you would like to speak with someone.
Add comment
Comments