Guilt by Any Other Name

P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
E-mail: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

Guilt by Any Other Name
A preacher friend of mine tells the story of a lady he calls Martha. She had heard him talk about the effects of conscience to keep spiritually sensitive people on track. He had stated that hidden sin just won't let you rest. It makes you miserable. The agony of guilt is like a red light on a car's instrument panel calling for attention. Martha cornered him at a break in the weekend seminar to disagree with him. She was a Sunday School teacher. Her husband, who had died two years before, was a minister. Now she was a 33-year-old widow who was having an affair with a married man in her church - the husband of a close friend. "In all honesty, I'm enjoying what I'm doing," she said, "and I feel absolutely no guilt over it." She admitted that she had wanted to talk to my preacher friend for that reason. She had always believed her conscience would kill her if she ever stepped so far outside her beliefs and values. "I must really be sold to Satan!" she said. My preacher friend had noticed that her hands were trembling, so he asked about it. Martha said it was Valium. "Why are you taking Valium?" It was nerves, she explained. Headaches, insomnia, chronic stomach upset. But the medicine didn't seem to be helping much, she said. "It's only when I'm with him that I feel good." Some of you are probably aghast at Martha's denseness. Oh, it isn't that she lacked intellectual ability. She is head-smart enough. It was what the Bible calls, her heart that was clouded, dull, and confused. And the chaos of her heart was such that she made no connection between her affair with a married man and her stomach pain, headaches, and sleepless nights. The only thing that gave her any relief or joy was the very thing causing her pain. Friend, not every night without sleep means a guilty conscience. Not every pain in someone's head or stomach is remorse over moral failures. And, yes, there is even such a thing as "false guilt" that can make a person neurotic. However, having said all of this, we're better these days at dismissing the need we all have now and then to face up to our moral and spiritual failures than at painful honesty. A rose by any other name smells just as sweet, right? And guilt by any other name is just as tormenting! Self-medication with spending, alcohol, sex, or pills doesn't address the real problem. It only increases guilt and compounds pain. Perhaps you may not have realized it, but the Bible isn't really about a distant and angry God waiting to strike you down if you make a mistake with your life. On the contrary, it is a message of a loving God who is kind and gentle. In fact, He is the nicest person in the universe. The Bible is a reminder of the extent of God's love. That He would wrap himself in frail flesh, suffer indignities, and die rather than leave us helpless before the guilt that's killing us. The truth is if you know God in an intimate way, He can provide for you a place of comfort and safety where you can be yourself and know that you are loved as you are. In fact, He is the only place where you can feel totally safe and wanted, where you know that you count and are special - very special. So, my friend, if you want to experience the security of God's love, but can't seem to find Him, I urge you to write for a FREE booklet titled "How to find God". To receive your copy by return mail, simply write to me at: P.O. Box 1540, Albany WA 6331. Or you may telephone your request on: (08) 9841 8418. My E-mail address is: abl-alb@omninet.net.au I look forward to hearing from you soon, Ron Unlike fine wine, conflicts that are left alone rarely improve with age. Eric Harvey

A preacher friend of mine tells the story of a lady he calls Martha. She had heard him talk about the effects of conscience to keep spiritually sensitive people on track. He had stated that hidden sin just won't let you rest. It makes you miserable. The agony of guilt is like a red light on a car's instrument panel calling for attention.

Martha cornered him at a break in the weekend seminar to disagree with him. She was a Sunday School teacher. Her husband, who had died two years before, was a minister. Now she was a 33-year-old widow who was having an affair with a married man in her church - the husband of a close friend.

"In all honesty, I'm enjoying what I'm doing," she said, "and I feel absolutely no guilt over it." She admitted that she had wanted to talk to my preacher friend for that reason. She had always believed her conscience would kill her if she ever stepped so far outside her beliefs and values. "I must really be sold to Satan!" she said.

My preacher friend had noticed that her hands were trembling, so he asked about it. Martha said it was Valium. "Why are you taking Valium?" It was nerves, she explained. Headaches, insomnia, chronic stomach upset. But the medicine didn't seem to be helping much, she said. "It's only when I'm with him that I feel good."

Some of you are probably aghast at Martha's denseness. Oh, it isn't that she lacked intellectual ability. She is head-smart enough. It was what the Bible calls, her heart that was clouded, dull, and confused. And the chaos of her heart was such that she made no connection between her affair with a married man and her stomach pain, headaches, and sleepless nights. The only thing that gave her any relief or joy was the very thing causing her pain.

Friend, not every night without sleep means a guilty conscience. Not every pain in someone's head or stomach is remorse over moral failures. And, yes, there is even such a thing as "false guilt" that can make a person neurotic. However, having said all of this, we're better these days at dismissing the need we all have now and then to face up to our moral and spiritual failures than at painful honesty.

A rose by any other name smells just as sweet, right? And guilt by any other name is just as tormenting! Self-medication with spending, alcohol, sex, or pills doesn't address the real problem. It only increases guilt and compounds pain.

Perhaps you may not have realized it, but the Bible isn't really about a distant and angry God waiting to strike you down if you make a mistake with your life. On the contrary, it is a message of a loving God who is kind and gentle. In fact, He is the nicest person in the universe. The Bible is a reminder of the extent of God's love. That He would wrap himself in frail flesh, suffer indignities, and die rather than leave us helpless before the guilt that's killing us.

The truth is if you know God in an intimate way, He can provide for you a place of comfort and safety where you can be yourself and know that you are loved as you are. In fact, He is the only place where you can feel totally safe and wanted, where you know that you count and are special - very special.

So, my friend, if you want to experience the security of God's love, but can't seem to find Him, I urge you to write for a FREE booklet titled "How to find God". To receive your copy by return mail, simply write to me at: P.O. Box 1540, Albany WA 6331. Or you may telephone your request on: (08) 9841 8418. My E-mail address is: abl-alb@omninet.net.au I look forward to hearing from you soon, Ron

Unlike fine wine, conflicts that are left alone rarely improve with age. Eric Harvey