Guilt

I didn’t really know what to name this one so I just decided to name it Guilt. This is something that has been on my mind for a long time now and I’ll have a follow up to it soon I just didn’t want to write on this as well because I thought that it would make it unbearably long. Well after seeing Bill Donohue on The Colbert Report the other day I decided that I would write something. Bill is the President of the Catholic league. Two things that he said during his interview with Steven struck me pretty hard. They were, “I believe in moral restraint and it is not a dirty word,” and, “I am all in favor of guilt.” This brings me to what this blog is about, guilt.

My question for this blog is; do Christians ever feel conviction anymore? I look around at some people who know good and well what they are doing is wrong but continues to do it anyways. This blows my mind completely. Not to say at all that I am perfect because I am not, in any way at all, but I still feel conviction. I just wonder how someone can claim to be a God fearing Christian but continue to live in the ways of the world without feeling any shame or actually believing that they are living right. Matthew 15:7-8 says, “You Hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” This verse also shows up in Mark 7:6.

In my own opinion I feel that if you do not feel convictions anymore than something is wrong. Something I’ve always heard in my church is when you think everything is alright something must be wrong. As humans we will continue to sin throughout our lives and if we no longer feel convicted that just means that we have become accustomed to our sin. We let our sins become acceptable and sometimes habitual. When we let this happen we continue to live in the ways of the world and can cause someone to stumble. In Galatians 2:13 it says, “The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” 2 Peter 2:2 says, “Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.”

Also if we allow the world to continue to influence us we can become a lukewarm Christian. It says in Revelations, “So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” This is one of my biggest fears, that God sees me as a lukewarm Christian, and I hope it is one of yours too.

After reading some more I found some hope, just so some of you won’t think that I only point out problems and do not try to offer a solution. In 1 Peter 2:1 it says,”Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Sorry if this blog is in anyway hard to understand, I know it is kind of unorganized but after hearing Bill say that stuff about guilt it got me thinking. I do not think guilt is a bad thing, in fact I see it as a good thing. Whenever I feel guilty or convicted about something I see it as God screaming at me, “Hey Justin, look at what you’re doing!” I pray that more Christians will feel convictions when they sin as well instead of letting it become a habit.