Guilt is probably one of the biggest things that can uproot someone's faith. I've seen it a lot and sadly I've allowed it to take me as a victim once or twice. I'll tell you from experience guilt is one of the hardest things to get past. you'll tell yourself a million times "ugh I'm so embarrassed, I can't even face them" or "How could I ever redeem myself from this?" or especially "I could never possibly be forgiven for this!" but every single thought right there is so obviously the wrong thought process to have, because these are the exact thoughts that lead people to fall away from the church time and time again, just ask the veteran of this (me) emotionally draining routine!
No one will ever judge you of what you have done! I PROMISE YOU THAT, but you just have to be willing to set your pride aside and allow someone to help you out of the mess of emotions your feeling. Once you get the guilt off your chest you will feel so much lighter and happier!
Satan wants you to feel guilty, you have to realize that the thoughts of guilt you are having are in no way from God, he does not want you to ever feel that way, he want you to be sorry, but never guilty to the point of embarrassment or hurt, he wants you to know you have done something wrong and feel sorry for that but never to any extreme extent. Realizing that Satan is the mastermind behind the feelings you are having is the first step to being able to get over that.
There are so many reasons for people to feel guilty that i don't even know where I should begin with giving you an example, but I think I have a story from my own life that might suffice for this topic. Promise you won't judge me I was going through a rough patch:
Graduation night, yup you can probably guess what that means: parties galore and bad situations up the wazoo. one of my friends was having a party (obviously you can guess what that entails, Word of Wisdom to put it nicely.) So I was already uneasy, because I really was striving to be a better church member, and I was retaking the missionary lessons, so I was dead set on not doing anything to hinder that, but peer pressure got the best of me and i gave in, i wasn't in my right mind that night, but I knew that i was absolutely going to church the next day and that it was ABSOLUTELY the LAST time, so to quicken along the story, everybody was loud and rowdy outside which never seems to end well, but next thing I know the police are there and it hit me right then and there, if it wasn't for my intentions to go to church and never break word of wisdom again, The police coming was a sign to me that if i didn't correct my life I was going to ultimately end up the exact person i promised myself I was never going to be, I probably could have acted much more admirably in this situation, but I ran home as fast as I could, Probably should have stayed and taken my punishment, but I was scared and didn't want to miss church,wow I guess i quickened that story along a lot it seemed much lengthier in my mind. So back to the point, If i had let Satan get a hold of me after this incident I would have ended up back where i started before I was retaking the Missionary lessons, Lost, hurting and without Hope, but I allowed myself to swallow my pride and admit to my mistake! I went to the bishop and told him what I had done, and I let loved ones I would have normally have tried to hide it from know what had happened.
You see I've gone through this routine of doing something stupid then falling away many times, but I didn't let it happen this time. Guilt can ruin lives, you really have to stop thinking about your own embarrassment and start thinking about The Savior!
The sort of guilt I'm thinking of right now is the type you have right before you are ready to go on your mission, what I always try to think about now every time I think to do something I might regret I think of other people and all the lives I'll touch when i go on a mission, that helps either stop from doing bad things or help get over the fear of unburdening them unto God or the Bishop.
Feel Sorry not Guilty.... they are absolutely two different things! Guilt hurts and makes us feel not worth it, feeling sorry makes you want to be better. So my advice is to pray for strength in tough situations, pray for forgiveness! (here comes the double negative,) but don't not pray(:
I know that prayer and thinking of others in the face of things that cause guilt can really make the process so much easier. you don't have to beat yourself up over your mistakes, not matter how big because you will always be forgiven & that is the thing you should always remember. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FORGIVEN. take that seed of yours and plant it deep, and when it grows into a tree don't let anything uproot your faith, because Satan will try with all his might, and if you let any vulnerabilities show (aka guilt) he will take advantage of that and its your job to be strong and not allow that to happen!
alright well that's my thought for you guys.....remember..... REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR(:
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