"Feeling Condemned?"

"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." 1 John 3:20 

After the Lord so graciously saves us there are times when we may commit a sin. We know we did something wrong, something displeasing to Him, or we disobeyed. When this happens, not only does the devil (the accuser of the brethren) come and condemn us, but our own heart will condemn us as well. We will "beat" ourselves up emotionally. We will carry around guilt and condemnation even after we have repented and asked for forgiveness from the Lord.

I have good news for you this morning. If your heart condemns you because of what you did, God is greater than your heart. God does not condemn us. He forgives us. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He removes our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. He throws them into the sea of forgetfulness never to be remembered against us any more.

We tend to keep "feeling guilty" over what we did. We think that we are suppose to feel guilty. We aren't. We are suppose to accept and embrace His forgiveness and cleansing and walk in it... and go and sin no more.

Is your heart condemning you because of something you did, or didn't do? When the scripture says that He is greater than your heart, what it means is that what God says overrides what your own heart/feelings say. Your heart may say one thing but God says another, and what He says is the final word on the matter. Your heart may be saying, "guilty", but God says, "not guilty". What He says holds more weight than what your heart or feelings say. What He says has more power behind it than what you say. What He says is the truth, not based on feelings. What He says is the final word.

The Bible says happy is the man who does not condemn himself in that which he allows. He is happy- not sad, depressed, feeling guilty, under condemnation- because when he goes to God, God forgives and declares him clean and forgiven. That should make him "happy", at peace and guilt free. It will if he will accept it. If he will accept the fact that what God says is greater than what he says about himself or the condemnation that he is placing on himself. So accept God's judgment over your judgment, accept what He says about your sin over what you say about it, because His judgment is greater.

Have a great day. You do not have to keep feeling condemnation over confessed sin because God says you are forgiven and what God says about the matter overrides what your feelings say about it.

For further reading:

John 3:16,17
Romans 8:1; 14:22
1 John 1:9
Psalm 103:12