Recently, at a public forum I attended, the public was given the opportunity to ask questions.
The first question caught my attention. “Why, if the New Testament stresses grace, does the church promote the concept of guilt?”
I was not on the panel, but I could not resist making my way forward to give my insight. Although I agree that grace is important, guilt still plays a significant role in our lives.
In a broken world, it shocks us that a man can rape a little girl and feel no guilt. A son can axe his family to death and show no remorse. People lie, steal and kill with no sense of guilt. The Bible speaks about a generation with a “seared conscience” – the inability to experience guilt.
Guilt is not a place we should live in. Guilt in itself can be very debilitating. Guilt’s purpose is to drive us to restitution. Living with guilt for 50 years is like living with a cancer that robs us of all our tomorrows.
For me, guilt is a gift from God, given to us to make us reach out for his grace (unmerited favour).
So if you don’t experience guilt, get help. If you are experiencing guilt all the time, get help.
Guilt is a door you must go through to get to grace – God’s forgiveness.
It is not grace versus guilt. It is guilt that drives me to fix things to receive God’s wonderful grace. Amen.
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