It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve posted, and I feel guilty. I know my good reasons, but I also want to be able to push through the obstacles that interfere with this blog. But I won’t let feeling guilty ruin my ability to talk to you about God.
One of my favorite Bible verses is found in Romans Chapter 7, verse 15: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. {NIV Bible] Boom! This verse is good stuff! It’s real. How many times do we try to change ourselves for the better, but end up back where we started, feeling guilty.
Paul was the writer of the above verse. He was an intensely devoted believer who wrote a large part of the “epistles” of the New Testament The epistles are the letters written to the earliest Christian churches, giving them guidance, encouragement and instruction.
Paul became a believer only after an encounter with Jesus Himself. In my section, “Paul, an unlikely convert,” Paul’s dramatic conversion to Christianity is detailed, so feel free to check that out to learn more about who Paul was and how God was able to use him and change him. Or, better yet, look it up in your Bible in the book of Acts in chapter 9.
So back to the point I was making about this awesome verse. 🙂 If Paul, handpicked by God to spread the saving message of the Gospel had trouble doing what he knew he should do then we truly are all in this together. We’re all weak sometimes. When we disappoint ourselves with our lack of discipline or willpower it makes us feel guilty. But I say to reject that guilt and try again. There’s nothing satan likes more than to condemn us for our shortcomings. He wants us to feel so badly about ourselves that we give up trying to do good things.
That’s why it’s so important to start again. We can’t turn back the clock, so now is the time to ask God for forgiveness and consider it behind us. Don’t nurture guilt or encourage it to continue because you think you deserve to feel badly about yourself. Accept God’s forgiveness and ask for His help to do (or not do) something important to you.