Hey! I am grateful to be the featured video on the Life Bible app this week, addressing the topic of guilt. You can check out the video and related verses here. I have also included a lightly edited transcript below. I pray this is useful!
~Blake
True Guilt
One of the most important forms of self-awareness is distinguishing true guilt from false guilt.
True guilt comes from something blatantly sinful we did (or sinfully failed to do). God beckons us to confess our true guilt to experience renewed fellowship with him and the relief of his grace. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Praise God that because of the cross of Christ, we can bring all of our true guilt to God and experience complete forgiveness. After you repent of your sin, you should hear God speaking to you the same words that he spoke to Isaiah: “Behold, . . . your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:7).
False Guilt
False guilt, meanwhile, is always vague and non-specific. It hisses accusations like,
- “You’re a failure.”
- “You’re not good enough.”
- “You wasted your best years.”
- “You should be further along by now.”
- “You’re a bad ________” (e.g. parent/friend/person/Christian)
Notice that none of these statements name specific sins we need to confess, nor do they provide standards by which we can measure their validity. They’re harsh enough to inflict pain but vague enough to prevent action. False guilt doesn’t bring godly conviction or a desire to change; it just leaves us with an ambiguous feeling of inadequacy.
Satan loves to shower us with false guilt. As long as our guilt stays vague, there’s nothing we can do with it. This keeps us away from the cross of Christ, and away from the relief of God’s grace—exactly where Satan wants us to be.
Yet God wants to relieve our false guilt. He wants to bring us out of the shadows of shame and into the warmth of his eternal love and approval. He wants to free us from the identity of “not good enough” and empower us to live out of our true identity: chosen, holy, and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12).
Come to Jesus
Jesus came to bear all of our burdens, including both kinds of guilt. He came to forgive us for our true guilt and remove our false guilt. When Satan accuses us, we must recognize the category, then bring it to Jesus—confessing our true guilt, and letting Jesus carry our false guilt.
Regardless of what is weighing you down today, Jesus’s words in Matthew 11:28 are for you: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
May we come to Jesus afresh today, finding rest in his presence.
Blake Glosson (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is a pastoral resident at Chapelstreet Church in Geneva, Illinois. He has been published and/or republished or referred by:
- The Gospel Coalition
- Life Bible
- Crosswalk
- Eternal Perspective Ministries (Randy Alcorn)
- Challies.com/Tim Challies (here, here, and here)
- DashHouse (Darryl Dash)
- Moody Radio (here, here, and here)
- The JOY FM (here and here)
- ChurchLeaders.com
- Monergism.com
- The Aquila Report (here, here, and here)
Previously, Blake served as the director of young adults at New Covenant Bible Church in St. Charles, Illinois.
Read “Silent Saturday: The Day Darkness Rejoiced As Though Heaven Had Lost” here.
Read or watch “Hope in Times of Suffering” here.
Read or watch “What Jesus Does with Your Tears” here.
Read “Why Does God Say No to Good Things?” here.
Watch or listen to Blake’s sermons here.
Feel free to drop a comment below with thoughts or questions!