Guilt?

[rosalind110]

By commiting Sin you are hurting God. We are all sinners but the more we sin the More we hurt him. He gave his Son to save us from our sins but by living in Sin we are still hurting our Lord and Savior.

-cw


Agreed, but if the guidelines in the bible on a particular subject are not straight forward and simple and are open to different interpretations as is so often the case, who gets to decide whether or not the action is a sin? Are we allowed to use our own consciences, hearts and prayers for this, or must we go against all these things because somebody else knows better and thinks that we are 'living in Sin' and 'hurting our Lord and Saviour'?

 

[elman]

The idea is what to do with it? HOLD on to it FOREVER and beat yourself up over it ever time something comes up that reminds you of it, or do you see what happened, what went wrong, what to do for next time, and then just LET it GO?

You're going to EXTREMES

I don't see what I said as different from yours. I said nothing about holding on to it and never forgiving yourself.

 

[MQTA]

ok, then we're in agreement again? cool

 

[dr.p]

It would appear to me that many people seem to feel so guilty about petty things in their lives. I am not talking about wrong doings that hurt others, but silly thing like thinking sensual thoughts or forgetting to pray or read their Bible etc. Guilt is corrosive, in my opinion, and I have got to the stage in life where if I have hurt someone, I apologise, and make amends, then move on. I certainly don't feel guilty about stuff that doesn't hurt anyone else.

You're absolutely right about guilt being corrosive. I agree with everyone who said, "in moderation," and I agree with those who said it's useful at times.

Guilt is there for a reason, imho. So, ignoring it would be bad... but not knowing what to do with it and holding on to it is way worse. It should compel you to act, immediately, or at least note that you have something to deal with, so that you can come back to it when you have time and inspect the cause -- rationally.

As for praying and reading the Bible, it isn't really silly when someone considers their Creator to be a living entity. That guilt makes them aware they are ignoring their relationship with God to some degree... like a tap on the shoulder to get their attention.

 

[Skydancing]

It depends what you mean by the creator being a living entity, I don't believe that God is a physical presence, more a metaphysical one.