When guilt can be good for you - Greg Laurie - http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/when-guilt-can-be-good-for-you/
Pastor Greg Laurie notes, 'Sometimes we have to feel bad before we can feel good'
Years ago I used to have a German shepherd named Irlo. (He came prenamed.) One evening when were taking a walk, a cat ran by. Off Irlo went, chasing after the cat. Then all of the sudden, the cat stopped. Irlo stopped too. I thought, What kind of cat is this? Then the cat lifted its tail, and I heard a sound: Psheww!! It wasn't a cat at all. It was a skunk, and Irlo had taken a direct hit to the face.
Irlo turned around, running straight toward me as I sprinted away from him. The front door was open, and I wanted to make it back to the house before he did. I knew that if Irlo got inside, he would stink up the entire place. But Irlo passed me and ran through the house. When I caught up with him, I put him in the backyard, where he rolled around on the grass, trying to rid himself of the smell. The stench was so bad that it woke my wife from a sound sleep. It took a long time to get that odor off of Irlo.
Maybe you are carrying around a heavy load of guilt. And maybe, like Irlo's attempt to rid himself of that smell, you have tried to rid yourself of guilt. You've tried to talk yourself out of it. You've said that it isn't real, that it isn't something you need to concern yourself with. But you know it is real.
Guilt is not always a bad thing, however. Guilt is a symptom of a deeper problem, and the deeper problem is sin. We feel guilty because we have sinned. It means that our conscience is working. And sometimes we have to feel bad before we can feel good. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4 NKJV). A more modern translation puts it this way: "How happy are those who know what sorrow means for they will be given courage and comfort!" (Phillips) First, we have to see our real condition. Our conscience is telling us that something is not right.
It's like the smoke alarm we had in our house years ago. It was so sensitive that it would go off when my wife was making a scrambled egg. We couldn't cook anything in the kitchen because of that overly sensitive alarm. So one day I couldn't take it anymore. I climbed up on a stool and ripped it out of the ceiling, and that was the end it.
Don't do to your conscience what I did to that smoke alarm. If your conscience is working, if you're feeling bad about some things you have done, then that is a good indication.
The bottom line is that every one of us has sinned. And what does it mean to sin? It means to cross a line. The Bible speaks of being "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1 NKJV). It's like seeing a "no trespassing" sign and choosing to ignore it. That's what it is to sin. You cross a line.
God has given us absolute standards for right and wrong. They are called the Ten Commandments. We all have broken them. We all have crossed the line. We all have fallen short of God's standard, which is perfection. Hence, we have guilt. But here is the good news: No matter what sin you have committed, God can forgive it and remove it from you forever.
Have you ever lost anything in the ocean? You can pretty much kiss it goodbye. You probably will never see it again. Here is what the Bible says: "[God] will again have compassion on us; [he] will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19 NIV). God also promises, "For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34 NKJV).
God will forgive our sins. He will forget our sins. And we should not choose to remember what God has chosen to forget. Our God has a big eraser. It is forgiven. It is forgotten. It is behind us.
The Bible tells the story of two thieves on the cross who were being crucified on the same day Jesus was. In the original language, the word thief is a much more intense word. They were not just guys who stole things; they probably were murderers and insurrectionists who revolted against Roman tyranny. We might call them terrorists today. So here was this thief, hanging on a cross, and next to him was Jesus Christ. The thief was hanging there because of his own sins. But Jesus was hanging there because of the sins of others.
When the crowd began to mock Christ, both thieves joined in the chorus of mockery. But then Jesus said something that stunned one of them: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34).
One of them said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom" (verse 42). He believed on the spot.
Do you know how long it takes to become a Christian? About as long as it takes to snap your fingers. You can believe in Jesus that quickly. It doesn't take a year. It doesn't take a month. It doesn't take a week. It can happen in an instant.
The thief on the cross was hopeless up to that point, but he found hope that day. Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (verse 43 NIV). Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Imagine how his heart must have leaped with joy.
Have you lost hope? It's been said that a person can live 40 days without food, three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope. Jesus Christ can give you hope today, just like he gave to that thief on the cross.
Do you have a heavy sense of guilt hanging over you today? God can forgive you. Because with God, all things are possible.
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