Imperfect but Abiding

Once, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the differences between true and false guilt. True guilt comes from the sins we need to “own” by taking responsibility for them, confessing them, and asking God for His forgiveness. False guilt, on the other hand, doesn’t come from sin but from Satan’s lies or promptings, or from our own anxieties or fears. In other words, false guilt isn’t ours to take. It might belong to someone else (or no one at all), but it does not belong to us.

The problem with this false guilt is that it can create shame that drives us away from Christ. Though Hebrews 4:13 tells us that nothing is hidden from Him, we’re living in a fallen world, and Satan loves planting the idea in our minds that we have done something so irredeemably wrong that we should pull away from the Lord. It’s a weapon that can work really well on people – myself included. While we might know that false guilt exists, it can be easy to convince ourselves that the guilt isn’t false at all.

I’ve found that it helps to remind myself of this verse when I’m suffocating under the weight of guilt that doesn’t belong to me:

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 (NASB)

David’s words in Psalm 139 can be helpful, also:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23-24 (NASB)

I think this is on my heart today for a couple of reasons. First of all, I deal with false guilt on such a regular basis that it’s bound to come up often, but I also think people generally fall into two camps: those who pick up way too much false guilt and those who are perfectly willing to pass out their true guilt to anyone who’s willing to pick it up.

Obviously, this can be problematic. Romans 3:23 tells us we’ve all sinned, but that doesn’t mean we need to go around gathering up the guilt that belongs to others. John didn’t say “If we confess absolutely every sin we can think of regardless of who it belongs to;” he said “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NASB).

So, if you tend to pick up the guilt that doesn’t belong to you, consider this your reminder to put it down. It’s not yours for the taking.