Take chances. Abandon all the rules. Ditch the recipe. Color outside the lines.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

How Do You Plead?

Are you ready for a hard subject?  Let’s talk about guilt.  This is kind of a sensitive subject for me to write on just because I tend to put a lot of it on myself.  I grew up in the Mecca of guilt, a place that is infamous for its ability to sway people using guilt… the Baptist church.  It’s interesting that it was in church I learned how to use guilt because Jesus never once used guilt as a tool in his ministry.

As most of you know from reading my previous writings, I was a trouble maker when I was younger. I was Involved with the wrong crowd and alcohol and it was a bad deal.  I did a lot of things when I was younger that I’m not proud of and from the moment I decided to change I have plagued myself with guilt over them.  

I started living with this need to make everything right that I did wrong by doing all these good things to make up for it.  How silly is that?  As if God has some record sheet that he marks off to make sure we are in balance in the end.  I never really admitted to anyone that that’s what I was doing… I really never even admitted it to myself… until recently.  

My best friend, man he can see straight through me! Knows me so much better than I even know myself!  Well, recently he called me out on my self-appointed guilt trip.  Side trip… I think it’s extremely important to have people in your life who can call you out and keep you accountable no matter what! But… anyways, back to my main point… It made me have to face that guilt that I was burdening myself with.  

You know, it’s super easy to fall into that guilt trap without even meaning to!  I think it’s one of Satan’s favorite weapons!  I think that’s probably because he’s taking something good and needed and turning it into something that’s self destructive.   It’s ok to feel guilt! I mean it’s ingrained in us.  

When you’re a little kid and you and your dad are throwing the Nerf football in the house after mom told you like a trillion times not to! Then you knock the picture off the wall and break the glass on the frame and you know she’s gonna be all upset so what do you do?  Blame it on dad! Duh!  You get that instant fear of getting in trouble and making her upset so you try to cover it up or hide it but eventually she always finds out somehow (personally I think it’s dad being a snitch but that’s just me). 

 Its guilt that helps you know you’ve messed up and it’s healthy as long as you take care of it the right way!  When you get that guilt ask for forgiveness and accept the consequences of your mistake.  Don’t hold onto it and beat yourself down with it every time you think about it.  

God isn’t keeping a record of it.  He says when you’re forgiven he puts it as far as the east is from the west! I don’t know about you but I can’t even begin to understand how far away that is!  He chooses to forget it and move on.  To him your future is so much more important than your past! 

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect so why do we expect that of ourselves?  Your past will only determine your future if you let it.  Who you are doesn’t have to be determined by who you’ve been.  Let go of the past and chase down the future.