Overcoming a Guilty Conscience

This is when the pain grows deeper and deeper and the way of life becomes darker and darker and so many of children of God are living defeated lives, striving to heal from past wounds is because of guilt. Guilt is one of Satan's biggest weapons against us. It tears us down, it makes us feel nervous, dirty, unworthy, robs our peace, faith, confidence and zest for living in Christ Jesus. Jesus came not only to cleanse us from our sins, but also set us free from the guilt of our sins. If you want to live a life of victory, you need to have a free conscience from the guilt of your past. 1Timothy 3:9In the world today, we see people living life still struggling to heal from their past wounds and scars because they have been stripped. Stripped by circumstances, situations, and the enemy of our souls, hindering us to move into the realm of blessings and anointing ordained for us, robbing our inner joy, hope, peace, love, trust, confidence and testimony.Two kinds of guiltThere's two
kinds of guilt in the Bible. There's Godly sorrow that leads a person to repentance (2 Cor 7:10), which is know as conviction and it comes from the Holy Spirit (John 16:8, "when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin..." - NASB). Once a person repents, the guilt lifts and they feel relieved and joyful that their sin(s) have been forgiven. Then there's another kind of guilt, and that's condemnation or accusations from the devil. Satan loves to torment God's people by reminding them of their pasts, and continually holding their sins before them even after their sins have been forgiven. This is condemnation and there is no good that comes out of it whatsoever. It tears us down, makes us feel dirty, unworthy and robs of us of our faith and confidence in Christ Jesus. It's a lie from the father of lies, and it needs to be ignoredGuilt is a door to the enemyI have seen how guilt can be an open door to be tormented by evil spirits. False guilt is actually a symptom of unfo
rgiveness in your heart that is directed at yourself. In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus tells us how important it is to forgive those who have wronged us, and how we can be turned over to the tormentors (evil spirits) if we are unforgiving. Collisions 3:13 tells us to be, "...forgiving one another..." The phrase 'one another' in NT Greek translates to the word Heautou, which includes THEMSELF! Bitterness, regardless who or what it's about, defiles a man (Hebrews 12:15). Spiritual defilement is what makes a person open to unclean spirits. It is very possible for a person to be harassed by evil spirits or come under their power, just because a person has refused to forgive them self.How guilt is cultivated and nurturedGuilt is cultivated when you continually allow yourself to dwell and think about how badly you've messed up, your pasts, the sins you've committed, etc. The enemy loves to remind us of our past failures, so he can keep us thinking about them. The problem is, if we allow
ourselves to fall for this trap, it allows the enemy to build what they call a stronghold in our minds.Your best bet is to learn what is going on, and stop Satan dead in his tracks. Learn the difference between condemnation and conviction, and stop listening to condemnation. Condemnation comes from the devil, and it's meant to build strongholds in your mind and weaken you spiritually.The stronghold of guiltWhen a person who has repented of their sin(s) but continually feels guilty day after day, even after being told that their past has been washed away and their sins have been forgiven, is facing what they call a stronghold. A stronghold is a lie that is believed, which results in an incorrect thinking pattern. The stronghold of guilt is often not alone, it is usually accompanied with an incorrect perception of themselves or an incorrect perception of God (which are both strongholds in themselves). People who have a stronghold of guilt rarely see God for who He really is (
including His awesome forgiving nature) or they don't see themselves correctly. They are new creations in Christ who's past has been washed away (2 Corinthians 5:17), but they simply don't believe it because they have a stronghold in their mind that needs to be torn down.How to deal with guiltStep 1: Understand the nature of God's forgiveness towards you. The teaching on The Forgiveness of Sins is a great teaching to help you there.Step 2: Repent of your sin(s) if you haven't already done so. They big key to being forgiven is repentance.Step 3: Know that your past sins have been forgiven, and that you are now clean in Christ Jesus. Stop thinking about your past sins and start thinking about the new person you are in Christ. We are NEVER told to mull around our past sins, but rather to forget the things which are behind and press forward. (Phil 3:13, "...this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.")Step
4: Forgive yourself! Jesus made it clear that we are to be forgiving, and that includes forgiving yourself. You need to release yourself from the bondage of unforgiveness. If God chose to forgive you, who are you to hang onto something that God chose to let go of? This is a major source of bondage, and I can't stress how vital it is for you to release yourself from your past. Collisions 3:13 tells us to be, "...forgiving one another..." If you look up the phrase 'one another' in that verse in the NT Greek, it translates to the word Heautou which includes THEMSELF! It is vital to be forgiving towards yourself!! Bitterness (the fruit of unforgiveness), regardless who or what it's about, defiles a man (Hebrews 12:15).If a stronghold of guilt exists, then the feelings of guilt may not disappear overnight, because strongholds need to be torn down by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). A great place to start is learning how to recognize condemnation from the devil, and stop
paying attention to it.

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