You can be a joyful person if you are free from the guilt and shame of doing the wrong things. Doing wrong, whether it be one time or habitual, great or small, intentional or unintentional, is damaging to your body, mind and spirit. It takes the joy out of life. This is bondage, but forgiveness from these things sets you free for joyful living.
To understand how forgiveness works you need to understand
GRACE. Grace is complete, unlimited and final forgiveness. It cannot be earned,
bought or deserved. Grace is a gift from a loving God who makes it available to
those who acknowledge that they are wrongdoers and accept that Jesus was the
Son of God who died on the cross to complete forgiveness. It applies if you are
a young child or on your death bed. It is grace that sets you free.
How do you deal with guilt if you do not have grace? You
cope through the use of mental mechanisms like rationalization: I am not a bad
person - or compensation – I do more good things than bad. To the human mind
grace is counter intuitive. There is a human feeling that somehow I must pay
for my wrongdoing. I may do it by repetitive prayer, reciting mantra or
penitence – denying myself something or punishing myself. Some even punish
themselves with a whip while others may go into a transience seeking nirvana. This
is bondage not freedom.
Does grace allow me to do whatever I want because it will be
covered by grace? Yes, but the key is, what do you want. After you become a
believer and God is Lord of your life, Jesus has saved you from your wrongdoing
and the Holy Spirit has entered your soul, your wants change. You want to
please God, want to live a life of integrity, want to love people more than
things, and want to care about the needs of other people. This is real freedom.
To us as Christians what happens when our wants or actions are
not right? The Scriptures instruct us to
ask for forgiveness from God. But aren’t we already forgiven? Yes but asking
reminds us that God is faithful and can
be depended on for complete forgiveness. It also causes us to reflect and
resolve to do the right thing next time. This keeps us free.
People who want, or delight in doing the wrong things are
sick or evil. They are self-centered, uncaring or maybe even psychopathic. We
know from the news media that murderers frequently kill themselves because they
cannot endure the guilt and shame of what they have done. This is bondage.
God’s grace is the bondage-breaker that sets you free and
provides a truly joy filled life.
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