We enjoy reminding God of our sins. For some reason we as humans feel that our consciences will turn silent once we apologize for our wrongs and constantly remind God of our mishaps. The Bible talks about freedom in Christ. Freedom from guilt and condemnation. So how do we take up this promise? What is needed?
The term... "this man has no conscience" is one that is used quite regularly. It is used on criminals who show little remorse for their actions and is even aimed at a person that has hurt you and failed to apologize. Clearly we see that little voice convicting us of our wrongs, quite necessary in order to be accepted into the society as we know it. But is it really our consciences we should be so afraid of when it comes to our mishaps or is it perhaps that we ourselves cause guilt?
I think we will all agree on the fact that as humans we make mistakes, and quite a lot of them. To be honest... we slip up everyday, all day! We also make sure to slip up properly every now and then. There is no human... dead or alive... that can claim they were without mistakes and on that we all agree. So with that debate out of the way, let's look at the after affects of such actions.
Guilt is a reflex reaction. We mess up, we feel guilty, and we apologize like no tomorrow. If you don't apologize... then we tend to sit with this guilt lodged deep in the back our minds. Now I am not saying don't apologize... but do you think feeling guilty for the rest of your life will really change things? Will it truly bring joy and freedom? Or is it just different looking chains for the mistake you made?
In Luke 6:6-11 we read about Jesus healing a man with a withered hand. Now this man was in the crowd but the hand was behind his back, hidden. He was ashamed of his deformity and for the culture of those days, he was also considered an out cast because of that deformity. Jesus knows about this man's hand just like He knows the Pharisees' who are attending's hearts. So He asks the man to stretch forward his hand and it is written that as the man stretched forward his hand, he WAS healed!
Luke 6:10 "And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored."His hand didn't only heal when it was already stretched out, it got healed as the man stretched forward his hand. Meaning that by the time the crowd and Jesus saw his hand, it was already healed! The same goes for our mistakes. Jesus is not interested in our sins, He is interested in our lives! Yes it is needed to admit to God what we have done... He still required the man to stretch forward his flaws. That is needed so we know what we did wrong and so we can avoid making the same mistake unconsciously. The point is however, there is no reason for guilt. We can enjoy the company of God freely, without any disturbances.
1 John 3:21 "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;"Don't ever let guilt about the past hold you from an amazing relationship with God. Your sins are already forgiven! When we mess up, it doesn't make us any less children of the Most High. Move past your flaws and mishaps and keep your focus on the forgiver of sin. The God of second, third, forth and millionth chances and just give your all to Him. He is interested in an intimate relationship with God. Don't let anything stand in your way.
