A Guilty Conscience

Most people know when they have done something wrong. Yes, I know there are those who are characterized as having mental and emotional disorders, and they might not be as aware of what they are doing. They are the exception, not the rule. God has built into each of us a conscience. Our conscience tells us what is right and wrong based on how we have programmed it. The Holy Spirit comes along and convicts our conscience when we do wrong, too. When we know we have done wrong, we have guilt over it, until we seek forgiveness or otherwise try to make things right. This guilt can last a long time and be very painful. That is what happened to Joseph's brothers after they sold him into slavery. They had to come to Egypt to buy food, and Joseph recognized them. He required them to bring his younger brother Benjamin to Egypt before he would agree to give them more food. (Genesis 42:21) At that point they felt guilty. They felt that this trouble was placed on them, because of their treatment of Joseph. That had been at least 13 years earlier. They could not get the deep distress of his pleas for help out of their minds, even after that long. I wonder how many of us have a guilty conscience right now?

Guilt over our sins can drive us to depression, because it can make us feel hopeless. We can think that we messed up, and there is no way to remedy what we did in the past. That is a lie of Satan. To begin with, Jesus died to forgive all of our sins and to remove our guilt for them. We must repent of our sins by turning away from them. Then, we must put our trust in Jesus, who died and rose again to pay for our sins. Then, He becomes Lord of our life, and He takes away our sin and our guilt as a free gift. We start fresh, with a clear conscience and the Holy Spirit to guide us. However, if we sin after our salvation, we still feel guilt, and we need to confess those specific sins, so God can cleanse us. We repent of them, too, and we ask God what we need to do to make it right with other people. He will show us, and we can be free from a guilty conscience. This is something we need to do every day and all day long, if we fall into sin. This will totally free us from a guilty conscience, and we will be free to live in peace, joy, and love all of our days.

#NHBaptistdotorg

Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 43-46.