Devotion
The Problem with Guilt
Frances Taylor

Does anyone sin anymore? We have a problem with admitting the existence of sin in our world today. We feel little responsibility to ask for forgiveness or to acknowledge that our actions have consequences. And so what happens with guilt? In today's psalm, there is joy in the knowledge that God has forgiven the sins of the psalmist. He talks about how he felt carrying the guilt of his sins. They can be a heavy burden. Just because the moral code of today doesn't like to admit that sin exists, our psyches as well as our bodies bear the brunt of our feelings of guilt. Many years ago I read an interesting piece of advice. Guilt can be heaped on us by others who didn't get what they want from you and is therefore not real, and it can be because of something we actually are responsible for. The advice was to hang onto guilt for no more than 3 hours – enough to suffer for something false and enough time to ask forgiveness for anyone we might have hurt. One of my neighbors once came into my yard and stole an item he decided I didn't want. When I confronted him and asked for it back, he gave it back but didn't speak to me for 2 years, blaming me for his theft. It wasn't until he acknowledged that he was to blame and asked for my forgiveness that he could relax and be a neighbor to others. Psychologists and psychiatrists have couches full of people whose guilt is wearing them down. How easy and difficult is the answer – acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God's forgiveness.

Prayer

Lord, our world tells us that anything goes, that if it feels good it is good. So why do we suffer the effects of guilt? Give us the will to take stock of our lives admit our wrongdoing and ask your forgiveness. Amen.