- Help work in the garden
- Take out the trash
- Make up my bed
- Clean my room
- Cut the grass
During the days of summer I would dread doing some of those chores. I particularly hated cutting the grass. We never seemed to have a lawnmower that wanted to start! My daddy would work on those mowers and try to keep them tuned up, but I would pull and pull and pull.
Many days I would pray for rain so I would not have to cut the grass. As time passed during the day and it would it would be time for daddy to come home -- well, I would panic! Guilt would start to overcome me. I felt so guilty when I did not do what my daddy wanted me to do. The reason I felt so guilty is that I WAS GUILTY! I was disobedient because I knew that I should have cut the grass early in the day.
Feeling guilty is one of the devil's greatest weapons in his arsenal of deception. You see, when I felt guilty for not cutting the grass the real feeling of worthlessness is what overtook me. When my dad started to call me lazy, etc., I felt so guilty. Guilt never motivated me to do anything.
Conviction on the other hand affects me differently. It is a tool that God uses to help me see that I are missing His blessings if I disobey Him. Conviction motivates -- guilt paralizes! Conviction is simply realizing that what you are doing is wrong and changing direction. Conviction leads to repentance. Guilt leads to more guilt.
In my relationship with God I have come to realize that He does not want me to feel guilty -- He wants me to feel convicted. For many years I related to God to the way I related to my earthly father. When I would miss the mark, disobey, willfully sin -- I would start to feel guilty. I would feel worthless. I would feel so hopelessly rejected by God. Nothing could be further from the truth. He was not rejecting me -- He was convicting me -- showing me, loving me, teaching me, and helping me!
- Guilt = Satan's tool
- Conviction = God's instruction
2 comments:
WOW. As a new Christian I struggled with that I was feeling. I think guilt and worthlesness describes it perfect. A friend asked me "do you feel convicted?" but I didnt grasp the concept of conviction till I read your blog. Thank you.
Very nicce!
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