With my clients lately, I’ve seen a common theme, and it has to do with guilt. Each person’s story is so unique. Each one of you watching has had different experiences, and many of them have been unpleasant, whether it’s something that you chose to do or something that someone else chose to do to you.

I’m realizing more and more just how often the enemy uses guilt as such a tool to keep us in bondage- to keep us defeated and discouraged. It’s powerful!

When you make a choice that’s not in alignment with God, then the accuser (as scripture calls him the accuser) wants to hold it over your head.

An example I’ve given my children is that if they know that there’s a rule that mommy says, for example, to leave alone a vase in the living room; and then they have a friend over that follows them around, saying, “come on, pick up the vase. Let’s go play with it! It’s really pretty- it looks really cool. let’s go play with it. Go on, pick it up, really! Pick it up, it’s okay…” and they keep on and keep on and keep on until one of the boys would pick up the vase to play with it. When they pick it up and when they break it or whatever may happen, that friend would then follow them around telling them how horrible they are, how they can’t believe that they would have done such a thing, and how they knew what the rule was, and that they must be a horrible kid. They would just pour on the guilt. Pour on the guilt; but that is exactly what our spiritual enemy does.

He taunts and torments tries to trick us into doing things that we know are not in alignment with God’s will and then as soon as we do? Oh, that’s grounds for torment. He’s the accuser and that’s what he wants to do here. He wants to punish, he wants to be in charge, he takes it upon himself like the kid in the classroom that is the tattletale. He wants to get someone in trouble and always wants to be in charge of others. He wants to be the one that has the authority, even though we have authority.

We have authority because we are children of the King! We have authority to stand up to that bully; stand up to the enemy that is trying to whisper those thoughts in our ears, trying to tell us how horrible we are, how we should know better and all of the guilt and the shame and accusations.

So, a big message that I’m wanting to make sure you hear and that I just feel so impressed to share is that you don’t have to live in that guilt. Yes, you’re responsible for your actions, but if you have repented, if you have given that to God, if you are living in Christ- if you are living a life that’s pleasing to Him and you have that righteousness on (the breastplate of righteousness) and in your full armor of God, if you are living in Christ, there is no condemnation. Romans 8:1 says there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ, basically. That’s pretty powerful!

Just remember that when the accuser starts up, if you’re feeling guilty, ask God to reveal anything to you that you need to repent of. Make the changes you need to make and then move on. You don’t belong there. You don’t dwell there. You don’t live in guilt because the price has already been paid.

I hope that’s encouraging to you!

If you want to dig deeper into your own personal relationship with God, learning how to apply your special armor and pray in the spirit, then I encourage you to check out diggingdeeper.everydayincredible.net and you can learn about our accountability group that can help you do that. And remember, there are opportunities every day, so make every day incredible!