Topic: You Don’t Have to Live with Guilt Anymore [RICK WARREN Devotional 4 March 2020]
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BY RICK WARREN — MARCH 4, 2020
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(John 8:32 NIV)In John 14:6, Jesus says that he is the way, the truth, and the life. Several chapters earlier, in John 8:32, he says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (NIV). For the next few days we’re going to look at all the things Jesus promises to set us free from, starting with the burden of guilt.
You know what guilt feels like. Guilt robs you of happiness. It causes depression. It can make you physically sick. When David, a great king of Israel, had sinned, he felt the weight of guilt. He said to God, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12 KJV).
God has an answer to guilt: confession. The Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “If we tell Him our sins, He is faithful and we can depend on Him to forgive us of our sins. He will make our lives clean from all sin” (NLV).
You might have spent years working through a problem that really has a very simple solution: You just need a clear conscience. Jesus offers you that. He offers instantaneous forgiveness!
God tells us, “I will forgive their sins and I will no longer remember their wrongs” (Jeremiah 31:34 GNT).
Satan wants to keep you weighted down under the burden of guilt. He wants to keep you bound up so you can’t live in God’s freedom. But that’s not how God works.
Here’s how God works: You ask for forgiveness. Then God forgives you. But then, he goes a step further and actually forgets what you’ve done wrong.
It’s like God takes your sins and puts them in the deepest part of the ocean—and then he puts up a “no fishing” sign. God won’t pull up your sins again, and he doesn’t want you to, either. He wants you to be free.
Are you feeling the burden of guilt today? Remember that Jesus has come to set you free. When you confess your sins, he will forgive you and set you free from your guilt.
Then, you can live in the true freedom of knowing your past is forgiven and you are no longer bound by it.
- How does guilt affect our lives—physically, relationally, and spiritually?
- What sin are you feeling burdened by today? Take some time now to confess that sin to God, and then believe that you are forgiven.
- What are we not believing about who God is when we keep pulling up a sin that has already been forgiven?