Shame And Guilt

QUESTION: How can I get rid of shame and guilt?

ANSWER:

Do you want to shed the load of shame and guilt? Here’s a quick “how to”! Have you ever explored caverns or been spelunking? Our family has been to Mammoth Cave National Park in KY on a number of occasions to explore these incredible caves.

One year our guide stopped us in a large open area. All we could hear was the “drip, drip” sounds of water here and there. Pretty cool! Then he did something our kids weren’t expecting! He wanted us to experience the sheer darkness of the cave for a few minutes, so he turned off the lighting systems. Our daughter latched onto her daddy’s arm, yelling, “It’s too dark! I can’t see! Turn on the light!” Then the tour guide did something amazing! He struck one tiny match. That one minute source of light in that vast darkness provided a sense of security and reassurance. Peace. Comfort.

You ask, “How can I overcome shame and guilt from my past?” I don’t know where your pain comes from, whether it was from your own choices or from behaviors forced on you by others. Whatever the cause, you are living in the darkness of defeat.

Jesus is the Light of the world! He will be your “match,” your source of light, your sense of comfort, security, and reassurance. Shame and guilt are like wearing prisoner’s chains! They will drag you down. The good news is, you do not have to succumb to a life sentence of carrying this burden any longer!

Let me tell you from personal experience how I shed those prisoner’s chains in the dark pit. I was wallowing in shame/guilt for a long time.

Someone told me, “Until you focus on the Light you will always stumble around in the darkness of defeat.” I figured it out. . .I needed to latch onto my Heavenly Father as tightly as Emily clung to her daddy that day in the cave! I needed to follow Him. Let Him be my guide out of that pit. Let Him break the chains that held me down. I needed to be free of my past! And I couldn’t experience true joy in life until I was.

• Pray for Jesus to release you from bondage of shame and guilt, and the darkness of defeat. Job 12:22 says, “He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.”
  
  
• Pray that Jesus will keep you in His Light so you can see clearly and live victoriously each and every day! Isaiah 61:1 says, “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for captives, release from darkness for the prisoners.”
  
  
• Rely on God’s healing. 2 Samuel 22:29, “You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light.”