A Haunted Mind

Hello blessed one of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.
I guess the title of today’s post made you a little bit curious. Rest assured that we won’t talk about “ghosts” or anything like that, but about stuff which haunt our minds.
We’re talking about things which keep coming back over and over again in our minds, things we aren’t that much proud of, things we regret for example or things we dread.
Here’s a little list of a few things which could haunt our minds:

• Guilt
• Shame
• Resentment
• Negativity (Negative/pessimistic thoughts)
• Anger

I definitely won’t pretend to have listed them all, there probably are alot more. However, for today, we’ll go a little deeper into guilt and shame.
We’ll use a little scenario to illustrate this.
Suppose you’re 15 years old, and you’re just learning how to drive. It’s been less than two months since you had your driving license, and this morning while trying to drive the car out of the garage, you accidentally drove over the dog of your neighbor Mrs Lola.
Mrs Lola is a widow, who’s lived in your neighborhood eversince her husband died, and her best friend was actually her dog (before you killed it).
You feel guilty and shameful after what you did, then you apologize, promise to work harder at being a better driver, and you offer to go along with her to chose another dog once she’ll be ready.
I think that’s pretty cool and mature as a reaction, but you can’t wipe away the pain she feels, and no other dog will ever replace the dog you killed (accidentally).
Of course you’ll feel guilty about that, of course you’ll feel sad, and that’s totally normal. But if you’ve asked God to forgive you, and that time goes by; days, months, years, and you’re still feeling guilty and shameful about it, then there’s a problem. Guilt and shame of this past mistake haunt your mind.
I have chosen a scenario which you might consider as “no big deal”, some people will say “it was just a dog! ” or “at least it wasn’t a human being” , but, I love dogs and I really felt the pain of saying goodbye to my dog when it died. So, you can imagine the pain of Mrs.Lola in the story.
Anyhow, I just gave this as an example, there are people who are dealing with way more “shameful” stories than this. There’re people who raped and killed others before coming to Christ, there’re people who though they were Christians fell into drugs and theft and still feel the guilt and the shame despite the fact that they’ve repented and changed. There’re people who grew up in families which were deep down into sects and witchcraft and who after having turned to Christ still carry the guilt and shame due to their past and their background.
We may then ask ourselves;
How come after repentance these people don’t feel forgiven?
We may simply answer, that perhaps they repented but they failed to receive/accept God’s forgiveness.
For sure, when they repented and confessed their sins, God forgave them, but could it be that because they didn’t believe and accept the fact that God had forgiven them, they still carried guilt and shame?
That’s why today we’ll study the deeper meaning of the verse 1 John 1:9. So that once and for all, you or a friend or a loved one whom you know deals with guilt and shame may be delivered today.
1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1. Phase One : Confession

Confession here means agreeing with God i.e if you did/said/thought something and while reading God’s Word you realize that what you did (or didn’t do) was a sin, you confess it to Him.
You agree with God on the fact that what you did was wrong and sinful.
1 John 1:10 NIV

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

2. Phase Two: God is faithful and just

God is faithful to Himself, to who He is.
I may surprise you with this but do you know how God describes Himself? When God talks about who He is, He says He is a forgiving God. That’s His nature, that’s who He is. He can’t disown Himself.
Exodus 34:5‭-‬7 NIV
Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him(Moses) and proclaimed His name, the Lord . And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord , the Lord , the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
2 Timothy 2:13 NIV

if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown himself.

3. Phase Three: God forgives our sins

• He doesn’t forgive because it was a “little sin” (there’s no little sin by the way),
• He doesn’t forgive because in the past you behaved well,
• He doesn’t forgive because you’re a “nice person”
• He doesn’t forgive because “it was not your fault” or you were “trapped”

He forgives because that’s who He is.
He asks only one thing from you when you sin, this thing is not that you “pay Him back” but just that you confess your sin to Him. When you do so, sincerely, He automatically forgives your sin.
When God forgives, He doesn’t recall it to mind, to Him, old things have passed away and all things are new. He’s not going to judge you for a sin you’ve already confessed and which He has forgiven. He’s not waiting for years to pass for Him to punish you for a sin He has forgiven and for a sin for which He said ”I will never think of it again”. He won’t wait for you to die to remind you your past confessed sins and to send you to hell because of them, since He’s already dealt with them.
When Jesus Christ died on The Cross of Calvary for our sins, God made it clear to all of us, that He had made a way once and for all so that sin won’t separate man from Him anymore.
God is done with your confessed sin, what are you waiting for to let go?

NLT

NLT

4. Phase Four: The one whom He forgives He also purifies completely

At times, the shame we feel comes from the fact that we feel “dirty” after all what we did/said.
We’ve identified ourselves to our sins, so much so that to us, our sins and our beings are one and the same person. Our identity, our choices, our interactions, everything is now influenced by our sin, not by God. Simply because we feel impure, dirty, unworthy after all what we did.
We may know we’re forgiven, but still feel horrible crappy, dirty, nasty everytime a flashback pops up.
That’s why the last part of 1 John 1:9 is so important.
1 John 1:9 NIV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Yes, God has forgiven you, but He has also purified you from all unrighteousness.
What does this mean ? -You don’t have to feel dirty anymore about your mind, your body, your identity, etc.
God has purified/cleansed you from all unrighteousness.
If He has forgiven you, He has also purified you.
So stop thinking about what others think or say about you, stop thinking of the negative stuff you think about yourself, and learn to look at yourself as God does. God sees you as pure, holy and blameless. ( I can feel some of you being skeptical here but this is definitely how God sees you) . When God looks at you He sees Jesus Christ. In Him you are what you could never be without Him.
Colossians 1:22 NLT

Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.

I know these verses may still sound so abstract to you, but you have to believe them. Your life and peace of mind depend on you believing them.
Write them down, stick them on your desk, fridge, door, recite them out loud, listen to (and sing out loud) every Gospel song which talks about them, close your eyes and see yourself loved, forgiven, purified, holy, blameless, without fault as God sees you.

Prayer

Father Lord God Almighty, King of Glory, I confess my mind has been plagued and haunted by guilt and shame of my past sins, what I did to others, and also what others did to me. I thank You so much because You are faithful and just to forgive, and purify from all unrighteousnessness. I accept to see myself as You see me, in Christ I am holy, blameless, without fault, by virtue of His blood and His love for me, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen
Thank you so much for reading.
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Useful resources

1. Songs on letting go of guilt and shame:
–O Come to The Altar- Elevation Worship (Lyrics video)
–Crowder -Come as you are (Lyrics video)
2. A sermon on how to deal with the “ghosts” which haunt your heart:
The Haunted Heart – Pastor Steven Furtick
Hope you enjoy
God bless you
Victoria Eyog