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Letting Go Of Guilt

From Mind Over Emotions by Dr. Les Carter

Although some guilt can be totally debilitating, this emotion is given to us for positive reasons. Originally God gave it to mankind to serve the redemptive purpose of bringing all individuals into the right fellowship with Him. Through guilt we are each challenged to come to grips with the sense of right and wrong established by God. In both His written Word and each person's sense of conscience, God reveals the basic laws of morality and truth and exhorts individuals to draw close to Him. Just as physical pain communicates that something is amiss in one's body, guilt can communicate that all is not right in one's style of living and thinking. It is important to understand that there are two kinds of guilt:

  1. True guilt is the constructive feeling of remorse based on a reasonable understanding of God's standard of right and wrong. For example, when a person tells a lie, he feels guilty. Inwardly he knows that he has violated one of God's directives. Therefore, because of his sense of regret, he atones for his error, making the necessary corrections. True guilt is the inner voice that instructs the individual to choose right over wrong. It is the emotion that leads a person to live a life of moral responsibility.

  2. False guilt is a feeling of remorse that assumes a judgmental posture toward oneself (note that judging is entirely different from examining oneself). False guilt involves a subjective condemnation in light of the fact that a wrong has been committed. Attached to false guilt is the fear of being found out and the fear of receiving harsh punishment. This type of guilt usually has negative repercussions because it hinders a person from accepting the fullness of God's forgiveness. The experience of false guilt is inappropriate because it encourages a person to feel that he has no value because of personal sins.

Notice the differences between true guilt and false guilt. Whereas true guilt causes a person to draw closer to God, false guilt creates a sense of isolation or estrangement from Him. True guilt brings improvement to a person's life; false guilt causes life to lose its joy. True guilt produces a humble, repentant spirit; false guilt produces feelings of defeat and degradation.