A Guilty Conscience

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. —Acts 3:19


Why do we feel guilty? Many times in our life we have this feeling that we cannot explain. No matter how much you try and shake it off, you cannot. No matter how much time or money we spend on counselling - it cannot be relieved. No matter how much we pretend its not there or try to find someone to blame, the fact is - our guilt remains.

Jesus said "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains" -John 9:41

The Pharisees in the time of Jesus had this arrogance. They thought that they were righteous because they kept so many laws. But Jesus tells told them they were blind - they continued to sin and their guilt remained.

To root of the problem, the root of guilt is sin. We were not built to live according to our sinful nature, therefore this feelings comes to us - this guilty conscience.

There are a lot of people today who have a guilty conscience. That is what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, discovered. One day he decided to play a joke on 12 of his friends. He sent them all a message that said, "Flee at once. All is discovered." And within 24 hours, all 12 of his friends had left the country.

This is having a guilty conscience. It was just a joke. Nothing was discovered. But these people felt so guilty about something that they got out as quickly as they could.

However, guilt is not a something that is meant to make us feel afraid. Guilt can be good! It can be God's warning system to alert us to a problem. When I am beginning to do something wrong, guilt kicks in. It says, "Stop! Red alert! Don't go any further. This is a bad thing." Guilt is there to remind us we are crossing the line, and we should not go any further.

So today, ask yourself an innocent question; Do you have a guilty conscience? Ask it in a light hearted way...

Maybe God is telling you something. Maybe you should pay attention to your conscience. Confess everything to God and you can be refreshed by the presense of His Love and Forgiveness.

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not graciously give us all things? -Romans 8:32




Anon