From Guilt to Change to Forgiveness

And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God's revelation doesn't put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else's sin. Romans 3:19-20 (The Message)

Guilt is a powerful force. This emotion produces shame and leaves us empty. The best case scenario is we will get to the point where this uncomfortable sensation prompts us to change, and acknowledge our guilt, and seek forgiveness. This is a process and one not achieved straightaway.

For many years I never saw the seriousness of the devastating path I traveled. Every day my stomach ached, and I couldn't shake it. I wasnt I'll, at least not physically; but my behaviors affected me like an illness. I compare this to a nervous stomach experienced while waiting to deliver a speech or sitting in the hospital waiting room anticipating the results of a test.

The day I faced my sinful my ways and made the decision to change, things didn't happen just because I said so. A day-to-day heart change took place. Some days I failed, and guilt would grab hold of me pouring a tidal wave of shame over me.

Over and over I would vow to do better. This change of heart became a gradual process, and one I repeated until it sank in. Each time I failed, I saw an opportunity to pursue forgiveness. In time and through prayer, the new behaviors outnumbered the old ones. But again, the process is long, allowing for God to grow me and draw me close to Him.

The Law shows our SIN.

Do you see your sin clearly?  Or has it just become a part of who you are?      

       Actually, you don’t know what you don’t know…until you know what you don’t know.  Without the law, we might see ourselves as good enough.  We would have no way to grasp what God holds as righteous.  The law sets the bar for what a life without sin requires.
         Social media calls the ten commandments an example of the first data download from a cloud to a tablet.  I consider it a to-do list that can never be perfectly done.  God wants to right size our thinking so we can easily recognize how we fall short.  But He doesn't want us to simply try to do better to earn His favor.  He does not reject us for who we are, either!

         God wants to see us without sin.  Realizing that we can never be perfect is what God's law sets out to do.  We want to be good with God and He offers us His gift of a Savior.  God solves our problem for us!!

         The law is much more than a call to Jesus.  It is also God's way of protecting us from the hardships that are part of life.  The closer we stick to His ways, the more we dwell in His comfort and protection.  The less sin in our life, the closer we draw to God.  Because of Jesus, God no longer sees our sin.  We can look to the law to see our sin, and then look to God who saves us from it.

Romans 3:20

²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law;
 rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.