How exactly do we, succesfully, determine the source of the voice either tempting us to committ something or convicting us? Though I am confused about this, I am certain that this cannot be resolved through binary thinking -- it is very much a grey issue. For instance, I am currently dealing with guilt of having talked to my brother's girlfriend, 4 years ago, in a manner of sexual insinuations. And though I can easily resolve this by confessing (probably the most reasonable course of action to many Christians) to the one I commited wrong against, it would be, I reasoned, a selfish undertaking considering that part of me wants to do this just to release the guilt. Even more, my brother, then and now, never really cared for the girl making this past wrong less grave.
But then I asked myself, since confession is the right thing, wouldn't it be "right" to confess?
But on top of that question, a series of questions: since I need to confess this, wouldn't I need to confess every other wrongdoing I committed against someone regardless of the crime's gravity? And seeing that this issue died along with my brother's feelings for this girl, wouldn't this confession, if committed, strictly bring temporary satisfaction (temporary because I will feel the pangs of guilt later on) and not a reconciliation between the both of us (which is not priority considering the relatively good health of our current relationship)?
These questions then have me asking whether the rhetorical question was posed by Satan to set up the next set as a scheme to exacerbate my guilt or if the rhetorical question was given by God and the next set given by Satan to prevent me from making any confession.
And so on and so forth, the funhouse effect.
The best course of action to me was to give God my guilt but still, to this day, have I been continually bothered by this guilt. I just want to pop the bubble.
In other words, do I have to confess everything, even that time when I told my parent's I was sleeping over my friend's house, not mentioning the fact that I was going to do that later after I get inebriated off my nugget at another friend's house, totally slipping by their notice?
But then I asked myself, since confession is the right thing, wouldn't it be "right" to confess?
But on top of that question, a series of questions: since I need to confess this, wouldn't I need to confess every other wrongdoing I committed against someone regardless of the crime's gravity? And seeing that this issue died along with my brother's feelings for this girl, wouldn't this confession, if committed, strictly bring temporary satisfaction (temporary because I will feel the pangs of guilt later on) and not a reconciliation between the both of us (which is not priority considering the relatively good health of our current relationship)?
These questions then have me asking whether the rhetorical question was posed by Satan to set up the next set as a scheme to exacerbate my guilt or if the rhetorical question was given by God and the next set given by Satan to prevent me from making any confession.
And so on and so forth, the funhouse effect.
The best course of action to me was to give God my guilt but still, to this day, have I been continually bothered by this guilt. I just want to pop the bubble.
In other words, do I have to confess everything, even that time when I told my parent's I was sleeping over my friend's house, not mentioning the fact that I was going to do that later after I get inebriated off my nugget at another friend's house, totally slipping by their notice?
