Best Ten Ways To Recognize False Guilt And Quit Rejecting Yourself
Recognizing truth is the wind filling the sails of our life in Christ. Truth is the light that illuminates the next appropriate step to take, the watchtower which draws us securely to our journey's end. No one who knows Jesus has any wish to wander in doubt and confusion. Jesus is the true light of the world! His ways are grace-filled and freedom-making.
But the truth is, all of us operate by the partial light of our own judgments, trying as hard as we can manage to understand things, to grasp what just happened and to figure out the ideal way forward. Into this possibility for chaos the the master of deception loves to ensnare us with distortions intended to compel us to feel guilty, upbraided, and plundered of inner peace.
The Spirit of the Lord serves us by "convicting" us of false steps and "convincing" us of the right steps to take. Regretably, the "Accuser of the brethren" is unflinching at lumping condemnation on us when we get anything wrong. Both of their words sound like our own feelings being expressed . How do you tell the difference between conviction by the Spirit and condemnation by the enemy? Learning these 10 differences will give you more peace and freedom!
1. Conviction clarifies the concern, disconnects us from it and shows us the way to go forward--while all along encouraging us that we are covered by love and mercy despite our sin. Condemnation sticks us to the problem, creates no division in between us and the wrong and discloses no way of being restored--at the same time bullying us with judgment. How we need to learn to discern the difference!
2. Conviction brought to us by the Spirit softly underlines true guilt. The prince of darkness, on the other hand, delights to pour on false guilt--causing us to feel condemned even when we haven't done anything wrong. Beyond this, even in moments of undeniable guilt where there is no question in our minds that we have done wrong, the dark one drops loads of dread, reproach and derision on us attempting to make the entire way of repentance feel unpleasant and to make God look like an assailant.
3. The Holy Spirit knows that grace exists. Holy Spirit is the "Remembrancer" who enjoys helping us recollect who our Mighty Savior is and what He has won for us. The Shadow, conversely, murmurs that no grace exists--certainly not for these errors. Don't listen to him!
4. Conviction produces contrition. You become sorry that you misbehaved and that people you loved were hurt with your wrong-headed ways. This bolsters spiritual health and it normally results in change. Accusation, however, leads to feeling good-for-nothing. The enemy wants to have you think of yourself as a "sorry sinner." It keeps you imprisoned by an unhealthy cycle of regret and self-hatred.
5. The Spirit targets your error. He talks to you as a friend and gently says, "That was not right." The enemy libels who you are as a person. He handles you as an enemy and regularly brings charges that "You are bad.".
6. The Spirit of God enlightens your path in life by explaining, persuading and bringing correction. The evil one seeks to overshadow your mind with self-blaming feelings to ensure that you may lose your path.
7. The intent of conviction by the Holy Spirit is to teach and guide you. He wishes you to become your truer self. He invites you to feel hopeful about your future and your spiritual life. The evil one works with condemnation to denounce you and to get you feeling beat down and beyond recall. He wants to get you to quit.
8. The Spirit of God switches on the lights. A distinct error is invariably clarified. This brings repentance. Meanwhile, the enemy obscures all that he does in darkness. A haze of general wrongness settles in. This spreads chaos and bewilderment.
9. Conviction by the Spirit feels light-footed and unarguably correct. You may not be ready to repent, but you are pretty much acknowledging the perspective the Lord is revealing to you. Condemnation feels top-heavy and out of line. You might be eager to confess to almost anything, but still can't free of it.
10. Seeking forgiveness for bona fide sins brings freedom from genuine guilt. We are released by taking responsibility for the sin and by accepting God's mercy by faith. Resisting the accusations of trumped up guilt gives rise to liberation from condemnation. We are loosed by affirming the truth and by defending against the devil any time we feel incorrectly accused.
Now, do you see the contrast? That's discernment! Condemnation is the treacherous way of the world and it's soul-killing. Conviction is the higher way of the Lord. It reestablishes inner peace and builds up our life in Christ!
But the truth is, all of us operate by the partial light of our own judgments, trying as hard as we can manage to understand things, to grasp what just happened and to figure out the ideal way forward. Into this possibility for chaos the the master of deception loves to ensnare us with distortions intended to compel us to feel guilty, upbraided, and plundered of inner peace.
The Spirit of the Lord serves us by "convicting" us of false steps and "convincing" us of the right steps to take. Regretably, the "Accuser of the brethren" is unflinching at lumping condemnation on us when we get anything wrong. Both of their words sound like our own feelings being expressed . How do you tell the difference between conviction by the Spirit and condemnation by the enemy? Learning these 10 differences will give you more peace and freedom!
1. Conviction clarifies the concern, disconnects us from it and shows us the way to go forward--while all along encouraging us that we are covered by love and mercy despite our sin. Condemnation sticks us to the problem, creates no division in between us and the wrong and discloses no way of being restored--at the same time bullying us with judgment. How we need to learn to discern the difference!
2. Conviction brought to us by the Spirit softly underlines true guilt. The prince of darkness, on the other hand, delights to pour on false guilt--causing us to feel condemned even when we haven't done anything wrong. Beyond this, even in moments of undeniable guilt where there is no question in our minds that we have done wrong, the dark one drops loads of dread, reproach and derision on us attempting to make the entire way of repentance feel unpleasant and to make God look like an assailant.
3. The Holy Spirit knows that grace exists. Holy Spirit is the "Remembrancer" who enjoys helping us recollect who our Mighty Savior is and what He has won for us. The Shadow, conversely, murmurs that no grace exists--certainly not for these errors. Don't listen to him!
4. Conviction produces contrition. You become sorry that you misbehaved and that people you loved were hurt with your wrong-headed ways. This bolsters spiritual health and it normally results in change. Accusation, however, leads to feeling good-for-nothing. The enemy wants to have you think of yourself as a "sorry sinner." It keeps you imprisoned by an unhealthy cycle of regret and self-hatred.
5. The Spirit targets your error. He talks to you as a friend and gently says, "That was not right." The enemy libels who you are as a person. He handles you as an enemy and regularly brings charges that "You are bad.".
6. The Spirit of God enlightens your path in life by explaining, persuading and bringing correction. The evil one seeks to overshadow your mind with self-blaming feelings to ensure that you may lose your path.
7. The intent of conviction by the Holy Spirit is to teach and guide you. He wishes you to become your truer self. He invites you to feel hopeful about your future and your spiritual life. The evil one works with condemnation to denounce you and to get you feeling beat down and beyond recall. He wants to get you to quit.
8. The Spirit of God switches on the lights. A distinct error is invariably clarified. This brings repentance. Meanwhile, the enemy obscures all that he does in darkness. A haze of general wrongness settles in. This spreads chaos and bewilderment.
9. Conviction by the Spirit feels light-footed and unarguably correct. You may not be ready to repent, but you are pretty much acknowledging the perspective the Lord is revealing to you. Condemnation feels top-heavy and out of line. You might be eager to confess to almost anything, but still can't free of it.
10. Seeking forgiveness for bona fide sins brings freedom from genuine guilt. We are released by taking responsibility for the sin and by accepting God's mercy by faith. Resisting the accusations of trumped up guilt gives rise to liberation from condemnation. We are loosed by affirming the truth and by defending against the devil any time we feel incorrectly accused.
Now, do you see the contrast? That's discernment! Condemnation is the treacherous way of the world and it's soul-killing. Conviction is the higher way of the Lord. It reestablishes inner peace and builds up our life in Christ!
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