Silencing Our Guilt

Guilt occurs when we own up to wrongdoing and do not know how to repair it. We all carry personal responsibility for the wrongs we commit, that’s being accountable, but on a deeper level, none of us are off the hook for the mess the world is in. Whether we’re aware of it or not, through what we’ve done or failed to do, we’ve all had a hand in creating a world where wrong seems inevitable.

The real danger with guilt—whether it’s personal or collective—isn’t that we won’t feel it, but that we’ll let it take over. It festers in us, sometimes without us even realizing it. We lash out at others for the very things we can’t face in ourselves. We become bitter toward what’s right because it shines a light on our own wrongs. The brokenness we carry inside distances us from the people who could help us heal. We avoid those we’ve hurt because just being around them is a constant reminder of our guilt. Sometimes, we even sabotage ourselves, doing things we’ll get punished for, just to feel like we’ve paid for our sins. The ways this plays out are endless. We see this everyday with how we blame others for the things we do not like in order to create more guilt and shame instead of more responsibility and grace. More often than not, guilt doesn’t just follow wrongdoing—it keeps it going.

Trying to absolve yourself from guilt is like trying to sit in your own lap. The cycle of wrongdoing and guilt feeds itself, and we’re all trying to hide that truth from ourselves and everyone else. To break that cycle, we need friends—people we can trust enough to drop the mask. When they see us for who we really are and don’t run away (or worse, laugh), their trust in us helps us trust ourselves again. In that space, our guilt stops controlling us, even if just for a moment. And in that moment, we can step off the merry-go-round of guilt and land on solid ground, where we might just be able to walk straight again.

“Your sins are forgiven,” Jesus told the paralyzed man. Then he said, “Rise,” and the man stood up, picked up his bed, and walked home (Matthew 9:2-7).

Your sins are forgiven. Lets rise. Let’s walk each other home.

Dig deep…keep going.