Guilt - Good or Bad?

It was just over a month ago when Lancaster County residents were once again stunned to hear that a multiple homicide had occurred during the early morning hours while most were asleep. And it was just a week ago today that the alleged killer, Alec Kreider confessed his horrible deed to his dad. Two days later, his father contacted the police. By this past Saturday, the 16 year old was in custody.

What was young Kreider's motive to kill three people, one of whom was supposedly a good friend? We don't know. Authorities have been silent to this point on a possible motive. Until they tell us what they know, we will remain in the dark (and perhaps they do not even know at this point!). But here is another question for you - one that I think I can answer: What caused Kreider to confess to his dad? I believe it was, in one word, GUILT. You see guilt is to the soul what pain is to the body. Pain alerts us to the fact that something is WRONG with our body. So pain is really a good thing. Consider leprosy. Leprosy is a disease that attacks the nerves, eventually deadening them. So when a leper injures a foot or a hand for example, he may not feel any pain. As a result, the wound goes unattended, infection sets in and the leper ends up losing a toe or worse, a foot. So it is really a good thing that our Creator wired our bodies with a built in alarm system. What he did with our bodies he also did for our souls. Each one of us has a conscience. This conscience lets us know when we have done something that will harm our souls - and it does so through this feeling of guilt. If we are not careful, if we constantly ignore these feelings of guilt, we can eventually sear our conscience (see 1 Timothy 4:2). When this happens, we feel no guilt - and that is not a good thing!

Now before you get all upset with me, I do acknowledge such a thing as "false guilt." Sometimes we feel guilty over things that quite frankly we should not feel guilty about (like the guilt a godly parent feels over the ungodly choices of a prodigal adult child OR guilt we feel over a sin that has long been forgiven). But for everyone who suffers problems from "false guilt" there are far more of us who suffer because we do not pay attention to our "guilty consciences." My prayer has always been that God will keep my conscience sensitive - sensitive to his Spirit's pressure (which will mean feeling guilty when I sin!). The good news for a follower of Jesus is that when we do feel guilty because we have sinned, if we confess that sin (which is causing the guilt) to God, then "he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Praise God that he is a God who is QUICK to forgive! Let's all learn to listen to our consciences when they tell us we are guilty. Let's turn from (the Bible's word for this is "repent") our sin and turn to God and HIS ways! Our souls will be much healthier if we do!

Thanks for listening,

pj