More on Guilt
A Guilt Trip Is A Rough And Unnecessary Ride!By Jim Roane, PhDWe are God’s special creation. There is no one like me, and there will never be another you. No, God doesn't clone. Further, He has invested His greatest treasure in our welfare. This shows His great confidence in the potential of each of us. Thus, we are under a moral obligation, and a God given responsibility. An obligation to affirm His opinion of us, and the responsibility to cooperate with His purpose in us. Let us never forget that we bear the very image of Christ in our souls. Therefore, potentially, we are all winners! God thinks we have great possibilities. Why shouldn’t we? To believe less in ourselves than God believes in us is plain foolishness. A good self-image promotes good mental health. So, it is good psychology, as well as good theology, to believe in ourselves. Can anyone argue to the contrary that self-doubt brings on depression, and a spirit of defeatism? We should, therefore, in the words of Saint Augustine, “Think God’s thoughts after Him.” Fretting over sin, most often the cause for the mental doldrums is really nothing less than an abnormal reaction to our failure to measure up to His standard, I believe. I said, abnormal, because that is exactly the way God sees it. Look once again at what He has to say, The Ten Commandments were given so that all could see the extent of their failure to obey God’s laws. But the more we see our sinfulness, the more we see God’s abounding grace forgiving us. Before, sin ruled over all men and brought them to death, but now God’s kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 5:20-21, TLB) Therefore, there is no excuse for us to fret over shortcomings or inadequacies. He offers unconditional forgiveness and immediate spiritual rehabilitation for those who ask. So, why should we worry over a non-existing problem, once our sins are forgiven? Once we are forgiven God never puts us back on a guilt trip. We do that ourselves. Author’s Biographical Information Dr. Jim Roane has spent a lifetime in humanitarian and relief work. Early in his career he served as a medical social worker for the California Welfare Department, then as the administrator of a large private hospital in Southern California. His colorful career has taken him to all parts of the world—as the Managing Director of the Lillian Trasher Memorial Orphanage in Egypt, to the Director of Central Services to the United Mission to Nepal, Executive Director of the Northwest Teen Challenge Drug Rehabilitation Program for the northwestern sector of the United States, as well as professorial and chairmanship positions on the university level at North Central University (MN), and Trinity College (ND). Most recently he and his wife, Bonnie-who is a registered nurse-helped coordinate a major NGO cooperative effort for tsunami relief in Sri Lanka, and continue in that role as advisors and consultants in humanitarian and relief work. |
