How to Handle the Guilt of your Past

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Do you struggle to accept God's forgiveness? This video provides 4 things that God would say to someone who is struggling with the guilt of their past.

Are you struggling with guilt from your past and do you believe that God has truly forgiven you for it? Are you struggling to believe God has forgiven you because of the guilt of your past?

What would God say to a person who is struggling with the guilt of their past?

Okay so our story today comes from Luke 22 where Peter fails Jesus in an area that he never imagined he would. Peter was the most outspoken of all 12 of the disciples and yet when given the opportunity to take a stand for Jesus he denied that he ever even knew Jesus. And the Bible says that at that very moment their eyes locked and Peter felt so horrible that he began to weep bitterly because he knew he had failed.

What would God say to someone like Peter?

1. God specializes in using people who have failed
a. Abraham – Liar – Father of the Jewish Nation
b. Moses – Murdered a man – Led 2 million Jews free from Egyptian slavery
c. Rahab – Prostitute – She was in the lineage of people that gave birth to Jesus.
d. David – Adulterer/murderer – Greatest king of Israel
e. His son Solomon – 700 wives - Built the first Jewish temple
f. Fast forward to the NT you have…Paul – Killed Christians – Greatest apostle who ever lived and the one whom the Holy Spirit used to write half of the NT.
g. Peter – Denied he ever even knew Jesus

QUESTION: Now if God can not only forgive but use murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, polygamists, liars and cowards like Peter what could you have possibly done that would somehow disqualify you from receiving God’s forgiveness?

And the first thing He would say would be that He specializes in using people who have made an absolute mess of their life.

2. God already knew about your failures before you did – Lk. 22:34
a. Notice that Jesus predicts that Peter is going to fail him.
b. God saw every mistake that you have ever made and some future ones you don’t even know about yet and in spite of that He still chose to save you.
c. You cannot catch God off guard which is the reason why you can displease God but never disappoint Him.

3. God would invite you to turn towards Him – “So when you have repented and turned to me…” – Notice that Jesus is inviting Peter to turn towards him instead of away from him. Our tendency when we fail…again…and again…is to turn away and lock ourselves into a prison of pity. But the best thing you can do when you are experiencing guilt is to turn towards God through prayer, journaling, worship, Bible study, small group community, etc.

4. Use your failures as the fuel that ignites your purpose – Lk. 22:32 – What the enemy wants to do is to influence you to fail and then to be so ashamed of it that you don’t share your mistakes with others and as a result no one else gets the victory. Sometimes the place of our greatest failure can be the place of our greatest ministry. Every time you fail God gives you two gifts (a heart of humility and a heart of compassion). And because of that we are the most qualified to help other people who are struggling in the same ways we previously struggled in.

SUMMARY:
I want to encourage you today to truly embrace God’s forgiveness and recognize that because you did nothing to earn it, there is absolutely nothing you can do to lose it.


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