Posted by Princess_Ruhamah on August 09, 2007 at 14:16:39:
In Reply to: Guilt and unworthiness posted by Lost_Soul on August 09, 2007 at 05:28:47:
Dear precious LS,
Such a delicate and sensitive subject. Bless your heart, which so desires to be faithful and have nothing separate between you and your Lord, that it has compelled you to bring such an easily kept secret out in the open. No doubt it is an issue with which many of us have struggled, so you are not alone in this battle.
I am not computer savvy enough to know how to put the link in my own post, but there is a helpful article on this Web site which addresses the very topic. It is called, “Overcoming Lust: Victory in a Widow's Story, ” and you can find it in the list of titles when you click on the Articles link on the Purposeful Singleness homepage.
If you are being convicted by the Holy Spirit, it is not my intention to minimize that conviction nor to make light of the way you understand self-gratification in your life as a Christian, but please Precious one, remember that “there is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” If you know that you have put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, this too is a sin for which He died, and “where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound.” It is important for you not to lose sight of these things, for they are as much the Biblical truth as are the Scriptures that admonish us to be pure and holy and they are just as essential to our success in crucifying the flesh and conquering our sin, but when we are struggling with a particular besetting sin, we tend to conclude that they somehow do not apply to us. By all means, stay resolved in submitting yourself to God and getting victory in this area of your life, but know that Satan is a cunning opportunist and vicious bully who takes advantage of us, especially when and where we are volnerable. When we are troubled with something we have done, he has away of narrowing our perspective so much that all we can see is that sin, and the guilt we feel for doing it. We think about it so much (albeit unhappily) that we actually become preoccupied with it and are thus even more susceptible to committing it again, rather than become frightened and grieved into turning away from it. Remember that God has “loved you with an ever-lasting love, ” and that both His love and ever-lastingness, by very essence, is able to over-take, surpass, and swallow up a given period of time and that which takes place in it, including your lost battles with this temptation. Remember also that in 2 Samuel 22:36 and Psalm 18:35 David said that it was God’s gentleness--not His wrath and harsh rebuke--that made him great. Try to focus on these truths, and on the grace and nature of God (which includes his faithfulness, love, and compassion) whenever you begin to be consumed with the nature of your sin, guilt, and unworthiness. If you are Christ’s, you are no “lost soul, ” even though that is how you feel right now.
Because I can easily become obsessed with my sins and the remorse and shame associated with them, I have pretty much decided that my next Scripture memorization needs to be Hebrews 8:8-12, which says:
“8For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
“Covenant” is becoming one of my favorite words. Perhaps this is a Scripture upon which you can meditate, as well. In fact, Hebrews as a great book to read and re-read, because it shines the spotlight on Christ and His multi-faceted and complete salvation which He provided for us. I know Hebrews has a couple of verses which Satan can twist to vex us rather than correct and console us when we are grieving over our sin, but you can always ask someone about these if you are not sure of there meaning and application. The richness of all that Christ has done for us, and the way it is all unfolded and explained in Hebrews is a healing balm. Remember, you are under the new covenant, not the old, and the new covenant is based upon better promises. Continue to trust Him, and the all-sufficiency of His shed blood and finished work on the cross, not only to get you victory over this sin, not only to obtain your pardon and deliver you from it, not only to wash and cleanse you from it and secure your welcome in heaven one day, but even to save you from yourself, your repeated failures, and the despair and shame that threatens to undo and consume you, in other words, to save you from and see you through this very moment in your life and all that characterizes it.
“2Bless the LORD,
O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits: 3Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; … 8The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and plenteous in mercy.
9He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11For as the heaven is high above the earth,
so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12As far as the east is from the west,
so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
13Like as a father pitieth his children,
so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
14For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:2-4,
8-14)