First of all, thank you to all of you who have responded to the Friday Questions. It has been interesting to hear your responses and I thank you for sacrifcing a little bit of your time and effort into this little process. I did want to clarify one thing, though.
Let's say that we lie to someone about some thing that happened (I mean, who hasn't lied to someone about something at one point...I think we can all include ourselves in this scenario). Eventually, the truth comes out and (hopefully and ideally) we feel remorse or guilty for what we have done and (hopefully and ideally) that person who was the object of our offense, in turn, forgives us of the wrongdoing that we have done to them.
All done, right? This is where I have to object and say that it is not done.
You see, just by someone forgiving you of an offense does not mean that you are no less guilty than you were before you were forgiven. So, what I meant by the question, "What do you do with your guilt?", was not about what you do when you feel guilty about something, it was about how do you rid yourself of that blot on your character. How do you rid yourself of the actual guilt that you incurred on your life?
One may say that since the person has forgiven you, the guilt is thereby erased. But I would respond to that with this: If we all have lied or done something to incur that guilt on ourselves and are all thereby guilty of something, how can we be cleansed of our guilt by someone just as guilty as ourselves? It would be like a convicted criminal going to another convicted criminal and asking them for relief of their sentence. You see, guilt can't just be forgiven and forgotten...it has to be paid for, and we as humans do not have the power (or authority actually) to do that in someone else's life because we are just as guilty of the same things. Our country has ways set on how crimes are to be paid for. Likewise, the God who made the intangible laws that we break also has a way that those crimes are paid for. And that way is ultimately with our lives.
But this is the great love of God, because He didn't just leave us here to be guilty and have no way out. He has made a way, and He offers it to all who would believe on His Son, Jesus Christ, and confess him before men.
How can we expect the criminal to free us of our crime? And why would we go to the criminal, when the Maker of the Law we violated has already made a way to be free?
1 comment:
I guess I don't think you do rid yourself of that blot. If I could forget my guilt, I think I might forget the lesson I learned from it.
I agree that guilt has a price. Using the example of wronging someone, the price for that guilt could be loss of friendship, loss of respect, or loss of pride when you seek forgiveness from your wrong-doing. And I think when I do something that hurts someone else, they do have the power to forgive me. Hopefully and ideally, they will.
So maybe guilt isn't erased completely. It is my belief that forgiveness and redemption weigh more than guilt. So while I might carry the guilt of wrong-doing, my load is lightened by the forgiveness of my friend (or, if they won't forgive, my forgiveness of myself and vow to make different choices in the future).
I guess it boils down to how you feel about your guilt. I don't feel heavy or burdened, like I'm being buried in my mistakes. I carry my mistakes with me, as well as the lessons I've learned, all in hopes of being a better person and making better choices down the road.
If a person feels like his or her guilt is weighing him or her down, i can see needing to find something to absolve you of that guilt.
It's just not my view that it's required.
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