Guilt and Shame

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

I beseech you, I plead with you to be ye reconciled to God! (2 Corinthians 17-21)

We carry so much guilt and shame. I see it everywhere in the lives of women I know and love. I have seen it in my own heart. The weight of this guilt and shame renders us nearly incapable of living the life He has planned for us. We limp and we crawl. We label ourselves: Thief! Murderer! Failure! Adulteress! Loser!

Do you feel the weight of guilt? It is so heavy. When we hear about the forgiveness that we have in Christ, we give a nod, ‘oh, yeah, I know He forgives me’. But deep in our hearts we hear a whisper, ‘but you don’t know what I have done’. ‘I’m unclean, unworthy, dirt, refuse’.

And so it goes, years of believing we are no good, guilty of grievous sins, our hearts fracture more, the separation we feel from God gets deeper. Surely the contempt and hatred we feel for ourselves deepens. And it shows up in our relationships with others. We cannot truly love if we don't know what love is. Others, we keep at a distance lest they see the filth. Or, we can’t bear to be with them because the comparison of their lives with ours just heaps the guilt, higher and heavier.

It begins to show up in our bodies. Many physical maladies are the fruit of guilt and shame.

WAKE UP! OPEN YOUR EYES! IT.IS.A.LIE!!

You are not guilty! You are forgiven! He carried all the guilt, all the shame, all the punishment, for you, on the cross. You are being deceived. It is a trick.

Yes, you sinned. Yes, there are consequences, but guilt and shame are not one of them. You sinned, but you are not sin. (Romans 7) It was sin in you that you participated with. But, if you are a child of God and have repented, it is gone, buried in the sea of forgetfulness. It is gone. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for you.

How dare you hold on to what He shed His blood for? Carrying guilt and shame, listening to their lies, now that is sin. REPENT—GO—THE—OTHER—WAY! Stop listening to the lies. You are not guilty anymore!

If you would like to be free from this guilt . . .

Father God, I recognize and take responsibility for listening to and participating with a spirit of guilt and shame. I ask Your forgiveness and I renounce these sins. Thank You that You forgive me. Thank You that You remember my sins no more, why should I? Guilt and shame, I see you and I say go! Leave my heart and mind in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth!

“I am not guilty, I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”

“I confess my sins and He is faithful to forgive me and cleanse me from ALL unrighteousness.”

“He remembers my sins no more”

“I am precious and honored in His sight. He loves me with an everlasting love”

“He chose me in Him before the foundation of the world”

“I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of my sins”

Refuse to allow guilt and shame to speak to you. You have got to take your thoughts captive. Any thoughts of guilt and shame for past sins is a lie from the enemy. Recognize it is such and cast it down.

Renew your mind with the truth.

(For further reading, Psalm 103:12, 1 John 1:9 Psalm 32:5, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Hebrews 8:12, Micah 7:19, 2 Peter 1:9)