How do you overcome guilt and shame from past sins biblically? Know this very important truth: Jesus doesn’t stop after he cancels your sin; he also desires to free you from the guilt. You see, what Jesus did for you on the cross has allowed you to be free from sin and condemnation.
Romans 8: 1 says, So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (NLT)
Don’t let the lies you have believed for so long dismiss God’s truth. Lies that say you are untrustworthy, unloved, and unforgivable. These thoughts seem real to you but they are lies. Jesus didn’t come to forgive the sin and leave you with the guilt of it. He died to extend grace, offer forgiveness, and erase guilt.
Psalms 103: 10-12 says, We sinned against him, but he didn't give us the punishment we deserved. His love for his followers is as high above us as heaven is above the earth. And he has taken our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. (Easy Reading Version)
YOU DON’T NEED TO PAY FOR YOUR GUILT
In the old testament, they had to make a sacrifice in order to atone for their sins. But external sacrifices didn’t erase internal guilt. No matter how many times they made a sacrifice they still had to deal with the guilt of their sin.
Hebrews 9: 9 says, ….It shows that the gifts and sacrifices the priests offer to God are not able to make the consciences of the worshipers completely clear. (ERV)
Only the blood of Christ will cleanse your conscience from acts that lead to death. He cancels the external sacrifices and activates the holy spirit who in dwells every believer.
Hebrews 9: 14 says, So surely the blood sacrifice of Christ can do much more. Christ offered himself through the eternal Spirit as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will make us completely clean from the evil we have done. It will give us clear consciences so that we can worship the living God. (Easy Reading Version)
GOD’S GRACE
Have you ever instead of looking to God for grace, compared your mistakes to the mistakes of others? If yours wasn’t as bad, you would allow yourself some grace, and your guilt would lessen.
Grace is defined as the unmerited or undeserving favor of God. This means, when you deserve punishment, he offers forgiveness, gives love, and extends approval.
You don’t have to earn God’s grace or forgiveness. God freely offers it to anyone who asks. He doesn’t weigh how big the sin is. The gossiper, drunk driver, cheater, stealer, liar, and murderer equally receive grace when they ask with a repentant heart. Now, grace doesn’t erase the consequences, excuse the mistakes, or let you purposefully sin. Grace allows you to focus on who God is. Pulling you away from your sin-filled life, moving you into the new creation God created you to be.
2 Corinthians 5: 17 says, This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
EXAMPLES OF GUILT IN THE BIBLE
King David- the king who took another man’s wife and then had that man killed- nailed it when he described the damage done by a guilty conscience.
Psalms 32: 3-4 says, When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
Then he goes on to say in Psalms 32: 5, Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
So how did David shake himself free from a guilty conscience? He confessed his sin to God. Unconfessed sin left David crying all day long and his strength was completely drained. Happiness and peace came only after he acknowledged his misdeeds.
Another example of guilt in the bible is when Peter, one of Jesus’s most trusted disciples, denied Jesus three times. He swore that he wouldn’t deny Jesus but did it anyways. The guilt he felt afterward made him weep. Learning that following Jesus doesn’t make you perfect. You will still make mistakes.
After Jesus rose from the dead he told Peter to “feed my lambs, and follow me.” Jesus saw the guilt Peter was carrying but didn’t expect him to live with his mistake. There was no condemnation only conviction to rise up, repent, leave sin behind, and become who God had created him to be. Peter confessed and started leading people to Christ. (Matthew 26)
You are no different from Peter. There is no mistake God won’t use. You need to accept his forgiveness and grace and give him permission to use your mistakes to strengthen you.
STEPS TO BEING FREE OF GUILT
First – You need to face up to the sin that resulted in the guilt. Admit your sin to God. And if there is another person involved then you need to confess to the other person that you have sinned against them.
Second – You need to make amends. Ask God to show you how you can make amends to the other person. And to give you the courage to follow through.
Third – You need to accept forgiveness. If you have sinned against God and you have repented, you can be assured that God has forgiven you. If you sinned against another person you need to accept their words of forgiveness. If they refuse to forgive you then it’s on them.
Fourth – You need to use your experience to serve others. In no way that would be compensation for the past. But it can be an expression that you have truly received God’s forgiveness and are going forward in your life.
Last – You need to praise God for his forgiveness. Our heavenly father is worthy of constant praise. Praise is part of receiving forgiveness. It is a sign to yourself, to God, and to others that you truly have accepted God’s forgiveness and have forgiven yourself.
CONCLUSION
God wants you to be free – free from not only your actions but also free from the guilt that results. I don’t know what guilt you live with, but I do know Jesus can silence it. All you have to do is ask him.
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