FROM THE PASTOR
So you’re feeling guilty?
Then live by Grace
Feelings of guilt rob people of joy in the present moment and also good times of the past. They can dim the light and cast darkness over the immediate future. They act like thorns in the flesh, pricking people in the so called rose garden of life. They are like clouds that keep blotting out the sun. They are like that little yapping dog at the white picket fence that you walk by; you know the one, that keeps trying to bite you around the ankles. Feelings of guilt are like a dog with a bone, gnawing away at you. Annoying. Making you feel inadequate, inferior, keeping you awake at night or worse – hate to think!
Feelings of guilt are sometimes necessary and may move people to constructive behaviour. For example, having a little guilty feeling about wastefulness might motivate some to recycle materials like paper and plastic and metals or may motivate some people who have a lot to help someone out who has less. Some feelings of guilt are imaginary, even unrecognised, with no actual basis or benefit.
Whatever the source or the purpose, they must be dealt with, otherwise they drain you, like a leech. Sap your energy, stifle your effectiveness, steal and cheat you out of the joy that enriches your life, makes life meaningless and empty – your relationships, and other areas of life including your journey of faith.
Now listen to St Paul who says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). In this beautiful verse lies “the” cure, the one remedy for ALL guilt. The conflicts and turmoils that arise out of guilt may serve you and I well, i.e., to keep us open to God’s grace, and not only so but to cast all matters on God that need to be rectified. When you and I realise the significance of God’s forgiveness and total acceptance, then you and I can return to loving and accepting others, your family members, friends and you can also discover and rediscover meaning and purpose in your daily life as your conflicts.
A prayer – “Lord deliver us from evil. Amen.” And a song: In Christ Alone!
We Pray For:
† Pastors, parents and teachers who handed on to us the tradition of the
Christian faith.
† Those who are deceived by false teachers.
† Those who are mourning the death of a loved one.
† Students who are preparing for their final exams.
Then live by Grace
Feelings of guilt rob people of joy in the present moment and also good times of the past. They can dim the light and cast darkness over the immediate future. They act like thorns in the flesh, pricking people in the so called rose garden of life. They are like clouds that keep blotting out the sun. They are like that little yapping dog at the white picket fence that you walk by; you know the one, that keeps trying to bite you around the ankles. Feelings of guilt are like a dog with a bone, gnawing away at you. Annoying. Making you feel inadequate, inferior, keeping you awake at night or worse – hate to think!
Feelings of guilt are sometimes necessary and may move people to constructive behaviour. For example, having a little guilty feeling about wastefulness might motivate some to recycle materials like paper and plastic and metals or may motivate some people who have a lot to help someone out who has less. Some feelings of guilt are imaginary, even unrecognised, with no actual basis or benefit.
Whatever the source or the purpose, they must be dealt with, otherwise they drain you, like a leech. Sap your energy, stifle your effectiveness, steal and cheat you out of the joy that enriches your life, makes life meaningless and empty – your relationships, and other areas of life including your journey of faith.
Now listen to St Paul who says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). In this beautiful verse lies “the” cure, the one remedy for ALL guilt. The conflicts and turmoils that arise out of guilt may serve you and I well, i.e., to keep us open to God’s grace, and not only so but to cast all matters on God that need to be rectified. When you and I realise the significance of God’s forgiveness and total acceptance, then you and I can return to loving and accepting others, your family members, friends and you can also discover and rediscover meaning and purpose in your daily life as your conflicts.
A prayer – “Lord deliver us from evil. Amen.” And a song: In Christ Alone!
We Pray For:
† Pastors, parents and teachers who handed on to us the tradition of the
Christian faith.
† Those who are deceived by false teachers.
† Those who are mourning the death of a loved one.
† Students who are preparing for their final exams.