Originally posted 2021-10-25 10:55:06.
Hi!
Wow! It has been over four months since I took a hiatus from posting on SBTW. I did not realize how much I missed writing on this site until I typed today’s post. It is a great feeling. Let’s get started.
Have you ever felt guilty about something? If so, how did it make you feel? Did the guilty feelings last for minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years?
Perhaps, you forgot about the guilt. But when you saw the object of your guilt, those old feelings resurfaced. Is that you? Yes? No? Maybe?
If you have experienced guilt, no matter how long guilt has bothered you, this subject is worth discussing. Even if you rarely experience guilt, stay with me, and let’s talk about it.
Guilt is a strong emotion. Though the feeling of responsibility for wrongdoing is a vehicle that helps you to right a wrong, the devil will use guilt to torment you. If constant feelings of remorse are troubling you, know that you can crush guilt. How? First, by being honest with yourself, and with God. He knows anyway.
When guilt repeatedly tries to ride your back, and you have no reason to feel guilty, it will roll out of your mind like water rolls off a freshly waxed car. When you are one-hundred percent sure that there are no hidden motives behind your actions, guilt has nowhere to dwell in you. But if guilt has a valid case against you, there are actions to take.
- Repent, pray and ask God what is driving the actions that cause the guilt.
- When God answers your prayers and exposes the spirits driving your actions, avoid going into denial. Sometimes we do things to people without realizing that spirits of low self-esteem, inferiority, insecurity, selfishness, inadequacy and jealousy dwell in us.
- Do not allow your opinion of yourself and of others to be influenced by the world’s standards. Social Media and other communication venues have bitten people with the “look at me, look at what I got, and look at how I am doing better than others” bug.
- Do not buy into the crab in the bucket mentality. Unhealthy competition has bombarded the minds and tainted the motives of men, women, boys and girls for too long.
- Do not allow pride driven fear of a person’s intellect, education, independence or career goals to guide your actions.
- Go to the person(s) that you offended and apologize.
I am sure you are thinking right now. So, the question is……
How do we detect defeat driven spirits that lurk in the crevices of our minds?
- Self-examination and prayer work.
- Reading God’s Word with a rake works. In other words, when you read God’s Word, do not think about how it applies to others or what others are doing wrong. See what the Word is telling you about your own faults and need of improvement first.
- Read God’s Word with a rake, not a push broom. Let God’s Word do what it is supposed to do. Let it expose and cut out ungodly ways in you. “The word of God is quick, and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.” (cf. Hebrews 4:12)
If you look down on people because of differences in your economical statuses, rake in the Word. If you look down on people because of your education and their lack thereof; rake in the Word. If you look down on people for ANY REASON, rake in the Word. Let God’s Word meet you at the point of your needs.
Do not forget, guilt torments. It will expose itself in your conversations, in meetings 
with teams you lead, in work groups you serve on, etc., etc. Think about it. Why do people who feel guilty about something they did to you call and ask if you are okay? They skirt around the reason for their call, and finally, “BING!” There it is? Without saying what happened, they throw feelers to see if you are angry or hurt. They unnecessarily explain why they made certain decisions or took certain actions. But what they do not know is that you are not angry; nor are you hurt. What consumes some people’s lives is irrelevant to you.
My friend, when you ‘dwell in the secret place of the most high and abide under the shadow of the almighty’ (cf. Psalm 91:1), you are fine. When you love God, genuinely serve God, and walk in your purpose, joy overrides negativity. When you are secure and confident in who you are IN God, and who God IS to you, your priority is that you seek to fulfill your divine assignments FROM God. Guilt has absolutely NO PLACE in that space! Praise God!
So never allow the crowd to cause you to see insignificance in your divine assignments! Never allow pride to drive you to show people what you are doing, simply because you are concerned with what people think about you. Your divine assignments might be on your job, in your local church, district, jurisdiction, your denomination’s national work or your personal ministry. You may have an assignment to encourage your family, witness to your childhood friends, lead your fellow coworkers or college alumni to Christ. You may have an assignment to finish an undergrad degree, graduate degree, 
doctorate degree or trade school certification. You may have an assignment to publish the books, manuals, or songs God placed in your spirit years ago to help His people. You may have an assignment to ghostwrite, consult, teach, or mentor others. You may have an assignment to start a nonprofit to help underprivileged youth and battered women. Your assignment may be to help men and women discover their gifts and pursue their purpose. God may be sending you to the hood where you grew up, to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Whatever your directives from God are, give God all of you.
Never forget. Guilt is a spirit that will spread like lava erupting from a volcano. That is why you MUST be careful! When you are the brunt of conversations of those who are driven to deceptive tactics by the soldiers of guilt; resentment, bitterness and depression will ooze out of the guilt and attack YOU. DO NOT give in to those spirits.
Remember, when you love the Lord, that love shines wherever you go. Walking in forgiveness permeates your thoughts and heart. So, when you receive phone calls or texts from people who are experiencing guilt or from someone they are hiding behind, do not feel guilty for discerning the sprit. Do not feel guilty for moving on. Just enjoy the inward laugh as you authentically declare to yourself, “I am fine.”
YOU, my friend, ARE fine!
You might be the one who is the object of someone openly telling people why they no longer involve you in what they are doing? Though they avoid mentioning your name, the words scream your name. When this happens, ignore the enemy of your soul’s whispers that, ‘what was said was intended to make others think you are angry or hurt.’ Plead ‘the blood of Jesus,’ and KNOW you are fine.
Jesus has given you peace, and you know that you don’t have a ‘why’ on your mind. Just move on with a 
song in your heart. Recognize and enjoy your new season. That old season had purpose. You learned a lot about people and yourself. But it is behind you. Thank God for putting into your spirit, what my three-year-old grandson always says, “I’m okay!”
You can crush guilt!
If guilt is lingering in your space for ANY REASON, pray, ask God for HIS forgiveness, and ask Him what you should do. Obey God’s directives. Crush guilt by pleading, “the blood of Jesus” against the spirit of guilt, and against every ungodly spirit that is trying to steal your joy. STOP allowing guilt to guide you like a puppet. Do not hide behind someone else to do your biddings. When you have someone to contact a person you feel guilty about how you treated that person. know that guilt is laughing at YOU. “Aww, Bahahaha! Got em!”
Face guilt head on! It definitely does not feel good. But, praise God in advance for your victory! Keep believing God! Keep reading God’s Holy Word! Keep being a doer of the Word! Keep praying! Keep fasting! Keep examining yourself! Keep serving God! 
Keep loving everyone! Keep going! Keep growing! When you do these things, the spirit of guilt may try you, but it will not win.
Thank you for joining me today. We will talk soon!
Blessings!
Rochelle 🌹
