Overcome Shame and Guilt Permanently

I once listened to a medical expert being interviewed on radio giving statistics regarding the number of mental disorder cases arising in his country on an annual basis and he was asked for his opinion as to the solution to this growing problem.

Whilst the man did give his response, he failed to hold my attention because he consistently spoke in terms of statistics rather than people. You and I are not statistics, we are people. You are a person.

Perhaps there are a number of reasons as to why people suffer from mental disorders, but in my experience in working with many, shame and guilt was all too often the root cause. It's one thing to know statistics, it's something else altogether to know people. Statistics don't suffer from mental disorders or shame and guilt - people do.

How many times have you heard someone say something like, "Well, you've made your own bed, now you'll have to lie in it." Now when it comes to suffering shame and guilt, it's probably true that we have "made our own bed" somehow, but the good news is, we do not have to lie in it. That simply is just not true.

There is a permanent solution to your problem. In fact, so effective is this permanent solution, it does not require you to fill your mind with positive thinking, nor does it require you to fill your body with prescriptive medicines. No doubt, engaging in those two activities is better than not engaging them, but the question we must ask ourselves is, "Are these band-aid solutions to my problem or are they permanent solutions?" You already know the answer to that.

Why play games with answers that you know are never going to bring about release and peace of mind for you? It must be said here that there are plenty of people who do play this game every waking moment and there always will be. But they do so by choice and you do not have to be among them.

But, you say, "I am not religious." Good. Neither is God. If God was religious He'd have you bound to a set of rules and traditions like most religions do. But if that were the case, He'd then be in conflict with His own words from the Gospel of John, which tell us in no uncertain terms, that He came to set us free. To be bound by shame and guilt, is to be in captivity - anything but free.

Freedom is what God, in the name of Jesus Christ, is all about. Did you know that Jesus Christ, will take your shame and guilt if you tell Him why you have it?. It's true. In fact, He already has taken it. He took it and died for it on a cross 2000 years ago. So if you will give it to Him and trust Him as your Ultimate Solution to dealing with it, guess what He will give you in exchange? He will give you His peace and righteousness. It's known as the divine exchange.

That's what the Christian gospel is all about. That's why it's called good news. Here's another reason why it's called that. When you give Jesus Christ your shame and guilt, He promises to not only permanently remove it from you, but He promises also to immediately forget the reason why you ever had it in the first place. You ask, "How could He possibly forget?" God question. I have no idea.

If you decide to borrow or buy a New Testament you will see the truth of these statements being made here in this lens. God will confirm it personally to you. You see, Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with God in Christ. That is what sets it widely apart from man's religion.

Granted, it may be a struggle for you to forget why you had shame and guilt, but why don't you let God take care of that issue for you as well. So grab a New Testament Bible and read the gospel of John and as you do, God will met you in it just like He met with the woman at the well, in chapter 4.

If ever there was a person who needed to overcome shame and guilt, it was surely that woman and that is exactly what Christ gave her within moments of His meeting with her. So effective and permanent did she experience her release to be, she dropped everything and ran off into the village to tell them all what had happened to her.

The writer of this lens can tell of a similar encounter with the same Lord and that is why he knows it can happen for you too.

© 2010. Article only. Roger Williams.