Part of the series “God Rocks: 101 Amazing Everyday Gifts!” Stories and promises of the awesome blessings God gives us each day. I hope it encourages you today!
Unresolved guilt and shame is a leading cause of mental and emotional distress according to many authorities.
We hurt a loved one with a cutting word or betrayal. Then later we regret it and feel empty because we hurt the one we love.
Photo by Rowanhill
We break our own moral values and wonder afterward, “How could I do something like that?” And we’re filled with shame and self condemnation.
So we try to fix the problem but sometimes we can’t.
So we ignore them thinking, “Well, everyone makes mistakes.”
And you know they do. But we’re still left with the lingering guilt which haunts us.
And often leaves us feeling far away from God. Maybe too far we think.
Jesus steps into this quagmire and offers one of his greatest promises.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” (Mathew 5: 6 NIV)
When you ache to be put things back right again Jesus says you will find his filling.
When we come to a place of saying, “God forgive me”, maybe even one more time.
And then accept that he has. Healing flows.
And look at that healing.
First, God does forgive us. Our relationship with him is unblocked. And his presence becomes real in us maybe for the first time. Or maybe again for the hundredth.
Second, the rightness of our relationship with the one we hurt can begin to heal. We see things in a clearer light and begin restoring.
Third, we often feel ready to ask for forgiveness from the one we hurt. Sometimes the relationship will never be fully restored depending on the circumstances. But we can be released from the tyranny of bottled up regret.
Fourth, we’ll forgive ourselves. We’ve been forgiven by God and perhaps by the one we hurt. So we’re released to now move on. We can put the past failures behind us where they belong. And move forward as someone pure and guiltless in God’s eyes.
Fifth, Jesus says we’ll be filled, literally saturated. Saturated with God’s peace and blessings. Filled with joy and love to live at a higher plane than we lived at before.
Our failures rather than destroy us can cause us to grow by God’s grace.
Where have you seen God’s forgiveness set you free to live again?
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