Guilt be Gone!

For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:12

Have you had huge guilt over something you have done and feel as though you would never be forgiven? 

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I sure have and more than once. We are all sinners and so everyone of us have done things that we should not have done and have felt some sort of guilt in our lives. 

For me this is a struggle because I not only feel guilty; I let it get to me. I allow myself to dwell and think about how badly I've messed up and the sins I've committed which leaves me feeling unworthy, discouraged and beat down. That feeling robs me of my relationship with God and just what Satan wants to do. The Devil loves to remind us of all our past and present failures so that we keep thinking about them and forget about what God tells us. Jesus not only came to cleanse us from our sins, but also to set us free from the guilt of those sins. 

This verse says that He will not only forgive us but then also forget what we have done. We don't have to worry about God holding a grudge about past, they are no more, gone, wiped clean. We so often talk about our spiritual "clean slate" and it is true. Our sins are washed away and so should the guilt follow.

There are 4 steps that I heard one time about guilt. I often forget these when I need them the most but I pray that we all will read these and remember them. 

1. Understand the nature of God's forgiveness towards you and that He has come to set us free in that area as well. 
2. Repent of your sin. Acknowledging your mistake and then truly repenting to God and asking for forgiveness is vital. 
3. Know that you are now forgiven, you have a clean slate and God will not remember or dwell on anything you have done in the past.
4. Forgive yourself! (This is the one I struggle with the most) Jesus makes it clear that we are to be forgiving and that also includes ourselves.  

My prayer is that with this reassurance that God not only forgives us but completely forgets and clears away our past sins, that we all will remember God's words and these 4 steps so that we do not let guilt tear us down by dwelling on the past and what we have done. Praise God that our salvation does not depend on what we do and that we have such a forgiving, gracious and loving Savior. Thank you Lord!