Guilt

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What to Do With Guilt

2 Samuel 11:6

"And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David."

The principal of cause and effect applies to everything in life. No matter how hard you try to get away from this principle it is still there. For instance, if you press down the accelerator pedal in your car, it will go faster. If you let up on the accelerator pedal, then the car will slow down. The cause is the accelerator pedal, and the affect is going faster or slower. Again, if you charge items to your credit card, then the effect will be that your bills will be greater. If you want your bills to be lower, then you must stop charging to your credit card. The cause and effect applies to your finances. Likewise, if you turn a light switch on, the darkness will immediately go away. The cause is the light switch and the effect is darkness going away.

Likewise sin has its after effects. David figured out that sin has after effects once it was too late. One of the effects of sin is guilt. We read in the verse above that David had to deal with guilt. He committed adultery with Bathsheba, and the effect of the sin was guilt entered into his heart. Instead of dealing with his guilt in the proper way, he added to his sin by having Bathsheba's husband killed. David dealt with his guilt in the wrong way.

There are two things you can do with guilt. The first thing you can do with guilt is to add to your sin by trying to cover it up. That is what David did. When you try to deal with guilt by covering up sin, you will only add to its effects in the future. When you try to cover up your sin, this will cause you to have more guilt and consequences. You cannot add to sin without having the effect of guilt and consequences to become greater. That is why you must not allow yourself to deal with guilt by trying to cover up sin. If you deal with guilt by covering up sin, you only make your guilt worse.

The second thing you could do with your guilt is to get rid of your sin. This is the best way to deal with guilt. When you get rid of sin, then you get rid of guilt and its consequences. Yes, you may have to deal with the payment of sin for some time, but eventually its consequences will end if you don't continue to add to your sin. David added to his sin, and the result was that he paid for it the rest of his life.

So what are you going to do with your guilt? What you do with your sin will determine how long you will deal with its affects. You can let your guilt continue to cause you to cover up your sin, or you could deal with it immediately by getting rid of sin. What you do with guilt will ultimately determine how happy your life will be. Don't allow sin to take away the joy of life. The best way to deal with guilt is to get rid of the cause of that guilt.

If you have something that's causing guilt, get rid of it today. The principle of cause and effect applies to your life, and especially to sin. The cause of guilt is sin, and what you do with guilt will determine its effects. Don't let guilt follow you for the rest of your life because of your lack of dealing with its cause. Deal with guilt's cause today, and let guilt become a thing of the past.

Remembering

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Remembering the Fallen

2 Samuel 1:17

"And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:"

David experienced one of the tragedies that many Christians will experience at some time in their life. That tragedy was when Saul's sin eventually took his life. After Saul's death, a young man came to David thinking to encourage him about the battle. He told David how Saul had died and how he had a part in it. This young man thought it was good news that Saul died. However, David responded properly when hearing that Saul had passed away. David knew that a great man had fallen, and he wanted to remember the fallen in a proper way.

At some time in your life you will face the unfortunate tragedy of someone succumbing to sin. When you hear of someone falling into sin, having the proper response is very important for the recovery of the fallen. Our goal should be to recover the fallen. However, if we have the wrong response to the fallen, then we cannot help them. Let me give you four thoughts on how you should remember those who have fallen into sin.

First, don't rejoice. You will notice in the verse above that David lamented over Saul's death. This was not a time of rejoicing when Saul was killed, but this was a time to weep and mourn over someone's death whom God used. Likewise, when you hear that someone has fallen, your response should be one of remorse. You should never rejoice when someone has fallen even if that person tried to hurt you. Many times when someone is trying to hurt you it is because of their sin. Therefore, when they have fallen you need to make sure that your response is never a joyful one

Second, consider yourself when you hear of someone falling. Galatians 61 says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." When you hear someone fell, you need to look at yourself and make sure there's no sin that can destroy you. When you hear someone fell into sin, it should be a reminder to take inventory of your Christian life to make sure there's nothing that can bring you down.

Third, remember the good of the one who has fallen. There is something good that the fallen one has done. Too many times we want to talk about the bad that caused them to, and this does nothing for you or them. Instead of looking at all the bad that their sin caused them to do, you need to look at their life and see the good that came from their years of serving God. There is something good in everyone that you can remember. You can either choose to look at the negative and remember them for the bad that they have done, or you can remember them for the good influences they had in your life and in others.

Fourth, attempt to recover the fallen. When you hear that someone has fallen, your goal should be to restore them back to usefulness. Instead of gossiping about how someone has fallen into sin, use your energies to try to restore them back to usefulness. They still have many years that God can use them. Though they may have scars that they will have to deal with for the rest of the life, just because they've fallen does not mean that God cannot use them again in the future. Always remember that if it was you who had fallen, that you would want someone to help you to recover.

Be that person who remembers the fallen in the right way. If you will remember the fallen in a right way, then you have a greater chance of restoring them from the destruction that sin caused in their life.

Changing

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Changing the Man

1 Samuel 10:9

"And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day."

Was Saul such a bad person that God needed to change him into another person? According to the Scripture, Saul was better than anyone other man in Israel. Yet, as good of a man that he was he still needed to be changed. According to the verse above, Saul was changed when "...God gave him another heart:..."

The key to changing a man is changing his heart. You can try all the programs in the world, but the only successful program to changing a man is to change their heart. You can try to change the outside appearance of a person, but if you don't change the heart, then they will continue to do the same thing.

For instance, often you will hear about a sports figure who gets a huge contract straight out of college. That money allows that sports figure to change the clothing they wear, the car they drive, and even allows them to change the neighborhood where they live, but that money doesn't change the heart. That is why you often hear of sports figures who constantly get into trouble. Their heart was not changed. The money simply allows them to do what they did before in a greater way. Money is not the answer to changing a person, rather allowing God to change their heart is the answer.

You can send people to programs to get them clean from alcohol and drugs, but if their heart is not changed then they will go right back to the same trash that they were involved in before they attended the program. We often hear of movie stars who are in and out of addiction programs because they want to stop their addiction. The problem with many of these addiction programs is that they try to change the person without changing the heart. The only way you are going to change these people is to change their heart, and God is the only One Who can do that.

Christian, the key to changing yourself for the better is to get God to change your heart. You can read every self-help book you can get your hands on, but only God can change your heart to make you a better person. All the success books in the world can't change who you are. Only God can change who you are, and He does that through changing your heart. You can change your appearance thinking that it will change who you are, but the answer for any change in your life is that you need to change your heart. Only God can do that!

Likewise, the only way you can change other people is to change their heart. The only way a parent can change their child is to change their heart. The only way a teacher can change their pupil is to change their heart. The only way the prison guard can change the prisoner is to change their heart. The only way the pastor can change the church member is to change their heart. However, only God can change the heart. If these people want to have an influence on changing others, then they need to get them to God.

The answer to changing a man is to get them to God so He can change their heart. When a man's heart is changed, then the man will be changed. This is why you must daily spend time in the Scriptures and prayer, because it is through these avenues that you can spend time with God so He can change your heart. Do you need to change yourself? Do you need to see a change in someone else? The answer is God! Ask God to do the changing, and you will be surprised what will come of yourself and others whom He changes.