God’s Love Is More Powerful Than Our Guilt.

I gave into temptation and was overcome with guilt. I prayed, repented, and asked God to forgive me. The guilt didn’t go away. The thing is, even though I knew God forgave me, I couldn’t forgive myself. I knew better, I’ve grown too much and have come too far to be slipping up that way. I felt heavy and disappointed. 

I tried to remind myself of the post I wrote yesterday, God isn’t like an earthly father. I am not powerful enough to destroy God’s plans for me, and I didn’t ruin everything. The guilt still persisted. Whether I wanted to admit it to myself or not, I was scared. Scared that I would be punished, scared of the consequences of my actions, and scared that I may have delayed God’s blessings. That is not the kind of God we serve, our God is merciful. I tried to fight the thoughts away but they fought me back. 

I went to the grocery store and as I was browsing, I accidentally dropped my phone, with the screen facing down. My phone was fine. I took that as a reminder to buy a screen protector, but while I was driving, God reminded me that the same way the phone fell and didn’t shatter, I wasn’t shattered either. I must pick myself up and keep going. 

I was experiencing guilt in waves. I knew that the day before this I felt so peaceful and I changed that with my actions. I wanted to feel that way again. God once again reassured me; He’s so patient. I would feel even better after this experience because I grew from it. I was overwhelmed with God’s love and it wasn’t until then that I felt relief. The guilt couldn’t stay because God’s love will always be more powerful.

This is my reminder to you to be gentle with yourself. We are not perfect; we never will be. God loves us despite our flaws. His love isn’t conditional. Don’t assume that one mistake will derail God’s plans for you, you CANNOT overpower God. His plans are still in motion because He loves us and is merciful and gracious. That is why we can’t take any credit for His blessings. Guilt will only cause you to retreat and distance yourself from God, when what we should be doing is drawing in closer to Him. He forgives our sins, He washes them away, and He makes everything new. Our sin doesn’t stand a chance next to God’s love, remember that.