THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (EXODUS)

True guilt refers to the fact of our offence towards God. True guilt also has its origin in sinning against people.

Based upon the teachings of Jesus, here are examples of true guilt:

* A man was promised a promotion in his company. Someone else got the job but achieved it by telling lies about the man who was promised it. Those in charge believed the lies. This man, a Christian, resented what had happened and vowed to get vengeance. He began defending himself and saying unkind things about the person who got the promotion. One sympathises with this man's deep hurt, but sadly he sinned along the way. He may or may not have felt any guilt for his efforts to vindicate himself, but the truth is - he has incurred true guilt and eventually has to answer for it. How do we know he sinned? Because of Jesus' interpretation of the sixth commandment 'You shall not murder'. The anger the man felt violated Jesus' teachings even though he did not physically kill anybody. But according to Jesus, the man's anger - hate - was sin. Were the man to see the error of his ways, all he need do is to acknowledge his sin to God, repent of it and cease doing anything to vindicate himself. True guilt need not be harboured nor carried for any length of time - it is not what God wants at all. True guilt is usually felt only for a moment or two - then confessed to God who instantly forgives. God does not say, 'You did not feel guilty long enough' or 'You don't seem sufficiently sorry.' God is not like that. Once we see our sin, confess and repent of it, as far as God is concerned, it's over. Nothing more is needed. One accepts God's forgiveness and forgives oneself. But in this particular case, the man continued to try to vindicate himself. Sadly he felt no guilt whatsoever, as far as one could tell. By R T Kendall

Tomorrow I will post some more examples of true guilt from 'Totally Forgiving Ourselves'