Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The burden of guilt

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

At one time or another, everyone is burdened with guilt.  You said you would be there to see your child compete at school, but you let your work keep you away.  You promised to faithfully love your spouse for the rest of your lives, but you got tangled up in an affair.  You promised yourself that you would change—keep your temper under strict control, lose weight, stop blowing money on foolish things—but despite your good intentions, old habits have refused to die.  You feel like a failure, unworthy of respect.  You feel like a heel for bringing pain and disappointment to those you care about.  You feel weak and powerless, a victim of your own inadequacies. You are burdened with guilt.

We try hard to be rid of guilt.  You might give your children expensive gifts to make up for being neglectful or abusive.  You might take your spouse on a second honeymoon as a way to overshadow painful memories with newer, pleasant ones.  You might invest time and money into seminars, self-help materials, or professional counseling to help you learn from your mistakes.  But the trouble is, nothing you do can change the past.  You can’t take back the hurtful words that should never have been spoken.  You can’t replace the time that was wasted or misused.  You can’t buy off pain with money.  And you cannot avoid the guilt by blaming someone else for your actions.  You cannot bury your guilt by distracting yourself with long hours at work or getting drunk every night.  No matter what you do, guilt burdens you with its awful weight.

Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  One of the burdens He lifts from us is the burden of guilt.  There is no escape from guilt until the penalty for wrongdoing has been paid in full.  Jesus settled that debt on the cross.  The sinless Son of God accepted full responsibility for everything you have done wrong.  The punishment that should be yours was inflicted upon Him.  Jesus chose to endure that suffering out of love for you.  Although your misbehavior angers God terribly, He still cares about you and wants you as a member of His eternal family.  Christ acted on that desire by taking your guilt and shouldering it Himself. 

You don’t have to carry the burden of guilt over your mistakes.  Just ask Jesus, and He will forgive your wrongdoing.  His loving mercy can give you rest.

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