Is Guilt Good or Bad?

            According to The Merriam-Webster dictionary, conscience is the consciousness of moral right and wrong of one’s own acts or motives.   We can see from Romans 2:14-16 that God has given mankind a conscience in which we, by nature, know between what is right and what is wrong.  This does not mean that we can neglect the word of God especially because people are raised in different environments where some may have a better understanding of the full will of God than others.   What that does mean is that we do not have to be told that basic things like murder are wrong to know that it is wrong.  In fact, we would more than likely feel the emotion of guilt if we were to cause death by an accident.  Guilt is a powerful emotion that can either be temporary to lasting a lifetime in a person. This brings the question is guilt good or bad?

If, as we saw in Romans, guilt is given by God then it must serve a good purpose.  People lost in sin are often brought to God by the feelings of guilt.  In fact, whenever the gospel is being presented to someone there needs to be a discussion on sin.  Otherwise why would the prospect see the need to be saved if he did not see a problem with sin?  The truth is that they would not.  In 2 Corinthians 6:8-10 we see that Godly sorrow (guilt) produces repentance.  We can also see many search for help from SFT because of their guilt and shame.  The usual SFT student would not be coming for help if he thought everything was right in his life as well as between him and God. We can see that guilt is obviously a good thing that God can use to make people into what He wants them to be.  Yes there will be some who have a seared conscience (1 Tim 4:2) and will not be effected when they do wrong.  Most, however, can be reached through their guilt.

Now let us examine if guilt can also be a bad thing.  DR. Dobson wrote in his book Emotions: Can You Trust Them?  about a young man who felt that every feeling he had was received from God.  He felt guilt if he did not pick up a piece of glass on the sidewalk out of fear that a barefoot child may step on it and cut his foot.  Granted it would be a good idea to pick up the glass for that reason, however, this attitude would not even allow him enjoyment in any area of his life.  He was setting impossible standards for himself that God had not placed upon him.   To take it even further this young man felt he had to balance his evil deeds with good deeds.  This is impossible for anyone including preachers.  Naturally he could not keep the standard he set for himself and always felt guilty and short of the glory of God.

Guilt is good when in its proper perspective that gives God glory.  On the other hand it can it be misused when we set impossible standards on ourselves which can give the world a false view of God’s expectations.  Think about how many people are out there who view the Church as a place where a person stays unhappy because he cannot meet the standards.  In 1 John 1:7 the Bible says, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin.”  Basically if we are saved and seeking to live a Christian life as opposed to a life of sinfulness, then our sins are washed away.  This ultimately means we can be sure of our salvation and not have to live life with the guilt of sins when we seek to live as a disciple of Christ.

This article can also be seen in Reach magazine.  If you are interested in a free subscription to Reach then go to www.highlandheights.net.  From there contact either Josh Pappas or Matt Wilber and give them your mailing address.