Guilt - A Mental Illness or a Choice?

Beneath My Rib - Trail Mix for Your Spiritual Journey

Guilt is a reaction to unrepentant sin and it is a crippling burden Jesus said.

So if we don’t want to recognize this guilt as being in us because our world view denies the existence of a universal moral law, does this eliminate guilt in us -No.

How does man unburden himself from this onerous weight of guilt?

How does man think about moral guilt in our contemporary postmodern world’s view?

The postmodern world view nullifies the concept of moral guilt. Postmodernism embraces secular determinism stating that man's behavior is a result of reacting instinctively to the natural laws of pain and pleasure rather than from a free moral choice.

People today, do not want objective, transcendent absolutes - such as the 10 commandment - whose authority comes from God because it demands a burden of accountability. Nevertheless guilt still persists within us. And, in spite of our denial, a conscience sensitized to the moral law which God has written on our hearts exists in us and cannot be removed.

Man cannot eliminate the conscience by choice.

But man tries - How?

The body, soul and spirit speaks out. Denied guilt isn’t silent. There are consequences to silencing the conscience.

Guilt and shame is the opposite of the joy and freedom we experience in living in obedience to God. The gift of our conscience keeps us ever mindful and instructive that our freedom from the pain of guilt and shame is found in the eternal grace of our Lord Jesus Christ whose sacrifice on that cross paid our debt.