Thursday, September 23, 2010

Some Words About Guilt and Grace


Guilt has been a big pitfall for me as a mother. I see my children having bad attitudes, and it just makes me so angry. And then I recognize that they are using a tone of voice or gesture that I use. It is so discouraging to find that they have picked up my bad attitudes. Then the guilt comes and I feel like I just can't do anything about the problem. Instead of just confessing my sin, I just continually feel guilty and hopeless about the issue.

This was a real eye-opener for me. It's from A Gospel Primer, by Milton Vincent.
As long as I am stricken with the guilt of my sins, I will be captive to them, and will often find myself re-committing the very sins about which I feel most guilty. The Devil is well aware of this fact; he knows that if he can keep me tormented by sin's guilt, he can dominate me with sin's power.
The gospel, however, slays sin at this root point and thereby nullifies sin's power over me. The forgiveness of God, made known to me through the gospel, liberates me from sin's power because it liberates me first from its guilt; and preaching such forgiveness to myself is a practical way of putting the gospel into operation as a nullifier of sin's power in my life.


It's so great to be reminded that as a child of God, I am not captive to sin anymore. I can have victory over sin because of God's forgiveness. How powerful this is in my life as a mother! Letting go of my guilt is so freeing, and allows me to experience God's grace in a very real way.

It's also helpful to remember what my ultimate goal is as wife and mother. My desire should be to further God's kingdom. That's the important stuff, not whether or not I'm becoming a domestic goddess. One of the biggest ways I can teach my children about God is by showing them my need for grace. When I come to them asking for their forgiveness for a harsh word, they can be taught about not only forgiveness, but also their own need for a Savior.

My prayer is that this guilt will no longer be a stumbling block for me, but rather a reminder of God's continual grace in my life.

5 comments:

Hamlet said...

Great stuff!

gina said...

Yes, Shelly! Yet another reason why you should keep on blogging. Don't worry about how often you do, just don't stop sharing. It is so encouraging. Love you, my friend.

S.D. Smith said...

Woh. Great post, Shelly.

Interestingly enough, a couple of hours before I read this I had to ask the entire family to forgive me for my own bad attitude/example. Nice to know I'm not alone in needing grace, needing the Gospel in my life.

Stay cool.

nGogo said...

Wow...Shelly! this topic has been on my mind the last week and you said just the things I needed to hear. Thanks for the quote and your thoughts.

Jessi said...

Thanks for sharing the gospel, Shelly! I need to hear it. I am so easily held captive by guilt and the truth of the gospel truly is liberating. I'm thankful for you, sis, and for your blog.