Dealing with Guilt (Personal forgiveness)

Are you holding a grudge against yourself…? Most people struggle with guilt from time to time while some others struggle with guilt all the time.

Though I am not a psychologist, I hope you find this note helpful as I talk about dealing with guilt.

For many of us it’s easy to forgive others but never easy to forgive ourselves. If this describes you then my question to you is, why is it that we can forgive someone for the wrong and mistakes they’ve made or done to us however when it comes to forgiving ourselves for similar action, we hold on and refuse to let go?

Well the answer isn’t farfetched. It is simply called guilt- yes GUILT.

Guilt is an emotion that helps us know something was done wrong but it is at the same time a very terrible emotion to live with. It tortures, erodes confidence, make us feel miserable.

Guilt comes about when we continually allow ourselves to dwell and think about how badly we’ve messed up and the past mistakes we’ve made. It makes us reply events over and over in our minds, wishing we could rewind time and do things differently.

Sometimes, we can make amends for our actions but then, we can never change history. Whatever is done is done.

Guilt will tell you. “You should have known better”, “you should have acted differently”, “you shouldn’t have said or done that” but hey! Human beings as we know are full of flaws. You are not a perfect being and neither am I.

While it’s important that we accept responsibility for our actions, acknowledge our faults and mistakes and apologies in an appropriate manner, carrying the burden of guilt around cannot help any of us.

Once we said I’m sorry, for a wrong act, then it’s time to let go of guilt because literally, there is nothing left for us to do. If the person(s) we’ve wronged has forgiven us, why can’t we just forgive ourselves…?

Forgiveness is golden and the highest form of forgiveness is personal forgiveness. Carrying on guilt for something we’ve apologized for or repented from is an absolute waste of time and energy.

Sometimes, its takes time for us to forgive ourselves and let go of guilt but we have to do so in order to move forward. There is no point holding a grudge against yourself…

Life is a learning process and for every wrong or mistake we make, there are lessons to be learnt. And as humans who are ever prone to mistakes, we can never be careful enough not to make mistakes.

Now with regard to faith, let me be very frank. Prayer will not work in an unforgiving heart. We simply cannot hold a grudge against our self or anyone for that matter and maintain a prayer life that gets results!

Guilt is one of a weapon of the enemy (Satan) uses against us. Its tears us down, makes us feel dirty, unworthy and consumes our joy. Jesus Christ did not only come to die for our sins but also to free us from guilt.

Once God forgives, he gives us a clean slate so let’s stop memorizing all our past sins.

I wrote this from a personal stand point. Guilt has for long dealt severely with me. And I am glad that I finally have the needed strength and grace to deal with it.

In life, we learn and move on… so now it’s time to embrace personal forgiveness and deal with the guilt that is dealing with you. Personal forgiveness is what ultimately frees us from guilt.

Just Sharing My Thought
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