The Guerrilla of Guilt

 guer·ril·la warfare

 [guh-ril-uh war- fAIr]

–noun

 

According to Wikipedia, "Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians (or "irregulars") use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army, or strike a vulnerable target, and withdraw almost immediately."(1)

GUILT IS GUERRILLA WARFARE TO THE CHRISTIAN

Listen to the tactics that guilt uses on us:

Ambushes and the Element of Surprise - When was the last time guilt snuck up behind you and hit you over the head when you least expected it?

Sabotage - How often has guilt over a past failure sabotaged a current relationship?

Raids - Raids are for the purpose of stealing something -- What has guilt stolen from you? Joy? Peace? Self-confidence?  

Extraordinary Mobility - Guilt can travel anywhere you can go. Sometimes it even arrives before you do. It can hide in your pocket.  Or in your mind. Or in your soul.

What is its purpose?

"to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army, or strike a vulnerable target, and withdraw almost immediately."

Guilt doesn't kill us, but it strikes us when we are vulnerable and then slithers away, leaving the black sludge of regret and defeat clinging to our souls. Guilt can paralyze us and keep us from fulfilling God's purposes in our lives.  Guilt can taint everything we do, stealing our joy and confidence.

Joseph's brothers were dogged by the hound of guilt.  Whenever anything bad came into their lives, their minds immediately went back to the sin they had committed against their brother, and they stood condemned in their own minds.  "Then they said to one another, 'We are truly guilty concerning our brother. . . '" (Gen. 42:21)

When Herod the Tetrarch heard the stories about Jesus, his own guilt over beheading John the Baptizer immediately overtook him, and he cried out, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead!" (Mat. 14:2)

So what place does guilt have in the life of the Christian?

With the truths of scripture to support me, I can confidently say that guilt is a guerrilla tactic of the enemy of our souls, and not from God.  The Holy Spirit of God will convict us of sin, but He will never, Ever, EVER drape the mantle of guilt across our shoulders and expect us to wear it.

If you have confessed and forsaken your sin and accepted the forgiveness that the Christ of Calvary offers to all mankind freely, then as you have been forgiven, so your sins are remembered no more.  "He has removed our sins as far away as the East is from the West to remember them no more."Psalm 103:12)

"There is therefore now NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1)

"The purpose of the voice of condemnation is to push you away from His presence -- that which is the very source of your victory. The purpose of the voice of conviction is to press you into the face of Christ." 

                        Bob Sorge, Secrets of the Secret Place (2) 

The next time the guerrilla of guilt tries to sabotage your joy, ask yourself, "Have I confessed and forsaken this before the Lord?"  If the answer is yes, rest in the promise of Isaiah 1:18  that tells us that "Though your sins be as scarlet," God's word says, "they shall be whiter than snow."  and say with Spanky of the Little Rascals, "Get behind me Satan, and DON'T PUSH!"

(1)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare

(2)-Lee's Summit, MO: Oasis House, 2001, 57-58.