You Don’t Have to Live with Guilt

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Building My Life on Values That Last

You Don’t Have to Live with Guilt By Rick Warren — Nov 16, 2015 “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance.”(Proverbs 28:13 TLB) God is always ready to give you another chance. That’s a bedrock piece of Christianity. We’ve all been irresponsible. We’ve all screwed up. The Bible tells us,“Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20 NLT, second edition). God doesn’t want you living with a heavy guilt trip about all the irresponsibility in your life. Guilt destroys your confidence, damages your relationships, keeps you stuck in the past, and even hurts your health. I read a report a few years back that said 70 percent of people in the hospital could leave if they knew how to resolve their guilt. God wants far better for your life than that. You don’t want to live with guilt. And here’s an important truth to always hang on to: You don’t have to. God wants you to live with a sense of promise and hope. God can even bring good out of the stupid decisions that you’ve made in your life if you’ll give those failures to him. How do you do that? Admit to God you’ve made a mistake. It doesn’t surprise him. And it won’t change his perception of you. I hope you’ll take this step today. When you do, here’s what you can expect from God: God forgives instantly. The very moment you admit your sin to God, he forgives you. God forgives freely. You don’t need to earn it, and you’ll never deserve it. God forgives completely. He wipes your sin absolutely clean. If you’re mired in guilt and shame, you’ll likely perpetuate whatever problem you have. You’ll tell yourself that you blew it, so you’re bad. Since you’re bad, you believe you’ll blow it again. It’s a nasty cycle from which we often can’t seem to escape — at least not on our own. You need a power beyond yourself. You need a Savior. You need Jesus. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over How have you seen guilt affect other people physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually? What keeps you from asking God to forgive you? What do you need to ask forgiveness for today? Today’s Scripture “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, NIV) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS The Power of Peace No matter what may be going on all around you today, you can still live in perfect peace. Peace isn’t about what’s going on around you, it’s about what’s going on in you. It says in today’s verse, “do not let your heart be troubled.” That tells us that we have control over whether or not our hearts our troubled. You shouldn’t focus on all the negative things in this world to the point that it steals your peace. If you have fear, worry or anxiety about anything, recognize that those feelings aren’t from God. He has promised to give you a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. There is tremendous power in peace. When you are at peace internally, you can think more clearly. You can hear the voice of God more easily. You’ll make better decisions. Even your physical body responds to peace. The enemy knows this, and his goal is to steal your peace. He tries to set you up to get upset. But when you choose peace, then no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Keep your mind stayed on Him every day because there is tremendous power in peace! A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You for Your gift of peace in my life. I choose to hold it close to me always. I receive Your Word as truth and life to my soul in Jesus’ name. Amen.”