What is guilt?
Here's the answer:
Guilt is our status after we sin.
You have probably felt guilt at one point in your life. Maybe you stole someone's toy because you wanted to play with it, or you lied to your parents. When we sin, we are guilty, even if we don’t feel bad about the sin. It is not based on feelings, but on our status as sinners.
This can be hard to understand, so let's learn from the Bible. Adam and Eve brought guilt into the world after they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). They had done something wrong: they disobeyed God. Because of their disobedience, they were now found to be guilty because they did not listen to God. However, they also felt guilty, as they knew they were not faithful to God’s commands.
Whenever you feel guilty, it can urge you to make things right. When guilt occurs for this reason, it can be a positive thing. However, sometimes we have false guilt, and this is planted by Satan. Satan wants us to feel bad about things that have already been forgiven because he wants to make us ineffective for Jesus. Whenever false guilt comes around, talk back to it with Scripture.
Bible Truth
"It is written, 'No one is right with God, no one at all'" (Romans 3:10).
"Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory" (Romans 3:23).
"Godly sadness causes us to turn away from our sins and be saved. And we are certainly not sorry about that! But worldly sadness brings death" (2 Corinthians 7:10).
