Fresh Mannaby Pastor Tim BurtNo one loves the feeling of guilt. I think it would be accurate to say that most people hate it. We push guilt aside, we bury guilt, and we will try to do any and everything we can to get rid of guilt. People just plain hate guilt. The problem is if a person doesn't know the Lord, they can never get rid of guilt. Oh, they may try. They may suppress their feelings about guilt. They may bury them. They may try to drown them in alcohol or drugs or some other way. But the spirit of a man knows when it is not clean before the Lord. When the spirit of a man is not free from sin, guilt is present. Guilt feelings can create defensive attitudes, leading to dysfunctional thinking and behaviors. That's why it is so imperative to be free from it.
God wants to free us all from that guilt and pain. The following two verses reveal this truth in the most powerful way! First, we see that God is not out to get us but to save us. He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, purely out of His love for us and for the very purpose of dying upon the cross to suffer the punishment we deserved for our sins! He literally suffered and took your punishment! That is love! John 3:17(NIV) says, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." To the contrary, He wants us not guilty by washing our sins away!Secondly, God has proven His love for us while we were still in a sinful state. That's how great His love is for us! Romans 5:8-9 (NIV) says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified (been cleansed) by the sacrifice of His death and blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Jesus Christ!"You see, God isn't looking to point the finger. He isn't looking for condemnation and guilt. He says we have been justified, or you could say, declared not guilty. And that is His gift from Himself to us. We are saved from wrath! We are not guilty. When a person repents from their sin and receives Jesus as their Savior, God immediately removes sin and guilt and makes them blameless. This is a gift and miracle that no human being is worthy of or can make happen on their own.
Now here's today's point. God didn't send Jesus to get rid of guilt so that we could put each other back under it. He wants us to help people get free from guilt. Receiving Jesus is a miraculous step with instant results—the promise and gift of eternal life. Learning to live the Christian walk is a process. Everyone is in a different place in that process. We don't want to put guilt trips on people because they don't live up to our expectations. We don't want to look for whom to blame in every situation where something goes wrong. We don't want to focus on blame at all. Some people are blamers. Something goes wrong, and the first thing they do is try to figure out whom they can blame for what's wrong.
Jesus wasn't out to condemn or find blame when our lives were sinful. He was solution-oriented, and He led the way. He took our punishment upon Himself. Then, He showed love and pointed out the right path—be merciful, forgiving, and solution-oriented. Imagine if we were like that. A husband and wife get into a fight, and instead of looking to blame each other, the husband sucks it up and says, Honey, you're probably right. I'm sorry. What do you think we can do to fix this? Imagine he does this even though he could be right. He has taken the lead. His heart is saying, Look honey; it's not important that I'm right and you are wrong. It's important that I protect my love for you and that we find a solution to this situation. He doesn't blame. He doesn't pin guilt. He washes her like Jesus washed us.Many marriages, relationships, and situations are ruined because they focus on faults and lay guilt for what each other is doing wrong or is not doing right! It's much more profitable and God's way of doing something when we show mercy and grace when something's gone wrong. It's more profitable when, through that mercy and grace, a couple kindly embraces each other and says, What can I do to better avoid this next time? And if someone does repeat it? Show more mercy and grace because the truth is that most people do accidentally repeat offenses. Changing your ways is hard, but you get there when you work for it! Always remember that you repeat mistakes yet rely daily on God's mercy and grace for yourself. So follow His example. Show more mercy and grace while focusing on not casting blame but working toward an amicable solution. It's better when we wash each other's feet. It's better when we overlook offenses and cleanse each other from sin and guilt. It's better when our motivation is to protect the love and relationship between each other. Blaming solves nothing and is motivated to get rid of your guilt. Understand that, and don't cave to it. Being solution-oriented and leading with the mercy and grace of God helps accomplish progress, puts a stake in guilt and condemnation, and slowly transforms behaviors.The same goes with children. Don't lay guilt on them. Free them up. Help them understand what works better. Understanding of wrong ways brings transformation. Guilt locks in lousy behavior, leading to avoidance and, eventually, attitude and behavioral problems. Wash them with your love and point them in the right direction. Love, instruction, and correction, mixed with mercy and grace that washes and continually forgives, are powerful in their work, where holding on to offense and placing blame and fault is the path to destroying all that's good. Ephesians1:4 says that God, through what Jesus did, made us "holy and without blame before Him in love."Prov 17:9 NKJV says, “He who covers (shows mercy and grace) and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends." Can you bring this principle of removing guilt and covering an offense into your marriage, parenting, workplace, and even your life? The Holy Spirit can teach you how. When you lead with mercy and grace and wash their guilt and look for solutions instead of guilt, you become a powerful vessel of God and effectively use God's most powerful tool of leadership. You become like Jesus!
Colossians 3:13 (NLT) "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."
In His love,Pastor Tim Burt
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