Sin - and Guilt

When I sin, I tend to get down on myself. Many do.

But what use is this self-condemnation?

It is a rational reaction; however, that doesn't mean it is wholesome or moves me toward repentance.

Getting down on myself amounts to saying, "I can do no better than that," which can drive me more and more away from God.

It can also lead me to set extremely high expectations only to, inevitably, fall short.

Either way, self-loathing or unreasonable expectation can be incredibly harmful.

Why is this reaction so negative?

It reinforces my instinctive belief that I am not really saved by grace through faith; that somehow what Jesus did for me could not be enough for MY sins. No, I need to prove that I deserve his gift. When we consider it later, we recognize the notion is laughable, but in the moment, many of us give way to it nonetheless.

So how do we combat this way of thinking?

First, we need to recall the truth.

The truth is that Jesus died so that we could be saved by grace through faith and have eternal life. He died precisely because we didn't, and never will, deserve it. His sacrifice on the cross is a gift that we need to accept fully, without any thoughts of "making it up to" God. There is no way we can ever begin to deserve this gift; yet we constantly try to do just that.

Second, we need to make sure we have proper thinking.

We need to thank God for this gift. We also need to realize that God knows we won't be perfect. That's why for us to be able to come into a relationship with Him, it was necessary for Him to send Jesus to atone for us. We should ask God to help us understand the truth and move us away from getting down on ourselves.

And finally, in order to move in this direction, we need to understand why we strive to remove sin from our lives.

We will not ever live sinless lives; that's something we need to remember. Yet God wants us to obey him, so let us devote ourselves to following him out of gratitude for the gift He has given us. When we stumble, let us sincerely ask forgiveness and keep moving along in our walk with God. He has already granted it to us. And we cannot forget about the Holy Spirit, through whom we are sanctified over time. The Spirit transforms our hearts and minds so that we want and can do what God calls us to as we move along in our walk with Him. In fact, when we look back, we find that any true desires we have to follow Him, He graciously gave to us by the Spirit!

Every time I let my guilt become the main thought, and in doing so focus on myself rather than on Him, I miss out on a great opportunity to experience God's grace.