Monday March 20, 2017

 

Happy are the pure in heart. – Jesus (Matthew 5:8)

 

It is impossible to be fully and consistently happy when there is guilt residing in your heart. That is because guilt dismantles your confidence and will not allow you to become the person that God created you to be. As if that were not enough guilt does not stop there, it keeps you in the past and does not allow you to move forwards. Guilt also has a negative impact on your relationships. As I began saying, guilt keeps you from being fully and consistently happy. This is why our Heavenly Father has given us a prescription for getting rid of guilt.

 

Getting Rid of Guilt

 

1. Take a personal moral inventory. You should never try to hide, excuse, or blame others for your guilt. Furthermore, you should never soak in your guilt. The first step in getting rid of your guilt is to be brutally honest with your self. Find a place where you can be alone and ask your self, what are the things that I feel badly or guilty about? Then, write them down and be specific. This exercise will help you to stop denying or excusing your guilt to actually facing the facts.

 

2. Accept responsibility for your faults. Your biggest impediment to being truly and consistently happy is your self. The healing and restoration in your life begins when you face up to and take full responsibility for your faults. In order to accomplish this, you are going to have to admit where you messed up. Excusing or hiding your behavior keeps you stuck in the negative consequences of guilt.

 

To get rid of guilt, you are going to have to examine your life and openly and specifically confess your sins to your self.

 

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find you find in me that makes you sad. (Psalm 139:23-24)