When I was a Christian I felt guilty almost all of the time. I knew that it was by grace I was saved through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. I knew I could never earn salvation by my works too. Only by faith could I be completely forgiven in God's eyes.

And yet, I was reminded every time I read the Bible, prayed or attended church what I must do as a Christian in response to God's love. If I was grateful for God's free gift of grace, then I should respond and behave like I was grateful. And I did try.

But I never felt like I was praying or reading the Bible enough, even though at an early stage in my Christian life I prayed 1 hour a day, and read the Bible 1 hour a day. I never felt like I was donating enough money, or evangelizing enough, either. Then there were temptations of greed, lust, laziness, and worldliness which always plagued me. I even had some people on my hate list, whom I just couldn't stand, and I just couldn't forgive.

I tried. I tried to give myself over to the power of the Spirit to take control of my life. I prayed for the power to live a spirit-fulled life of righteousness, knowing full well even as a Christian I could never be perfect--that was something to await in heaven.

But I always felt guilty, at least nearly 4 or 5 times a day. I prayed for forgiveness and felt clean again, of course. But then I started to feel guilty that I didn't spend that much time in prayer praying for the real needs of the world.

Now I am pretty much guilt free, and I'm lovin' it--freedom!

But what about you? How do you reconcile the grace-guilt-grace trip as a Christian?

Originally posted by Doubting John

When I was a Christian I felt guilty almost all of the time. I knew that it was by grace I was saved through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. I knew I could never earn salvation by my works too. Only by faith could I be completely forgiven in God's eyes.

And yet, I was reminded every time I read the Bible, prayed or attended church what I must do as a Christian in response to God's love. If I was grateful for God's free gift of grace, then I should respond and behave like I was grateful. And I did try.

But I never felt like I was praying or reading the Bible enough, even though at an early stage in my Christian life I prayed 1 hour a day, and read the Bible 1 hour a day. I never felt like I was donating enough money, or evangelizing enough, either. Then there were temptations of greed, lust, laziness, and worldliness which always plagued me. I even had some people on my hate list, whom I just couldn't stand, and I just couldn't forgive.

I tried. I tried to give myself over to the power of the Spirit to take control of my life. I prayed for the power to live a spirit-fulled life of righteousness, knowing full well even as a Christian I could never be perfect--that was something to await in heaven.

But I always felt guilty, at least nearly 4 or 5 times a day. I prayed for forgiveness and felt clean again, of course. But then I started to feel guilty that I didn't spend that much time in prayer praying for the real needs of the world.

Now I am pretty much guilt free, and I'm lovin' it--freedom!

But what about you? How do you reconcile the grace-guilt-grace trip as a Christian?

Do Christians Feel A Lot Of Guilt?

Only when I think about it.



Of course before I was a Christian, there were times when I felt guilty about not feeling guilty.

Serious post to follow....thanks for starting this thread BTW.

Originally posted by Doubting John

When I was a Christian I felt guilty almost all of the time. I knew that it was by grace I was saved through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. I knew I could never earn salvation by my works too. Only by faith could I be completely forgiven in God's eyes.

Yes.

And yet, I was reminded every time I read the Bible, prayed or attended church what I must do as a Christian in response to God's love. If I was grateful for God's free gift of grace, then I should respond and behave like I was grateful. And I did try.

I know the feeling... and sorry, but in the end it is all a load of carp foisted off by legions of demons and zipperheads and does nothing but drive people insane or away from the church.

But I never felt like I was praying or reading the Bible enough, even though at an early stage in my Christian life I prayed 1 hour a day, and read the Bible 1 hour a day. I never felt like I was donating enough money, or evangelizing enough, either. Then there were temptations of greed, lust, laziness, and worldliness which always plagued me. I even had some people on my hate list, whom I just couldn't stand, and I just couldn't forgive.

This strikes a note in every honest soul. Charles Stanley says when he first started counseling, he was surprised to find how many were having problems regarding forgiveness. Now many years later he said he would estimate 90% of the problems he sees have unforgiveness at the root of the problem. This includes not being able to forgive God. It is the hardest "work" of all, and the most gratifying when you come out the other side. A heavy load is lifted and it is intensely freeing, if you choose to take the challenge. Actually I found that once I was able to truly forgive one person who had hurt me the most, the rest came easy. Now it is no problem for me at all. I forgive instantly and forever. But it took two years to get there and I was (supernaturally?) determined to do it.

I tried. I tried to give myself over to the power of the Spirit to take control of my life. I prayed for the power to live a spirit-fulled life of righteousness, knowing full well even as a Christian I could never be perfect--that was something to await in heaven.

And I understand completely. It is so hard to reconcile the idea of imperfection and righteousness, especially if people are giving you the idea you have to be perfect. But salvation is an event - sanctification is a process. So we are works in progress as long as we are alive on this earth. Depending on the individual, that progress might be made in fits and starts, it might mean taking 3 steps forward and one back. Christ told us he came here for sinners -- that's me. He said if you are healthy, you don't need a doctor. I just think that the closer you get to the light, the more imperfections you see, and the more you realize your need for Him.

But I always felt guilty, at least nearly 4 or 5 times a day. I prayed for forgiveness and felt clean again, of course. But then I started to feel guilty that I didn't spend that much time in prayer praying for the real needs of the world.

Satan did his job well then. He stands as the Accuser of the Saints, that's his job, and a lot of churches are used by him as helpers to accomplish the ultimate goal: to remove believers from the fold.

Now I am pretty much guilt free, and I'm lovin' it--freedom!

Me too! (Although I have my moments, they are fleeting). Once I realized what was going on with the guilt, I came to this conclusion: I will allow no church, person, or doctrine to try and convince me
a. I'm not worthy
b. I'm not saved
c. I should feel guilty
d. I don't have the Holy Spirit
e. I'm going to hell

But what about you? How do you reconcile the grace-guilt-grace trip as a Christian?

Let me put it this way. I gave up the struggle. I freely admit my shortcomings to believers and unbelievers alike. Let people point fingers at me all day long and call me what they will: Guilt does not own me, God does. Since he's the Creator, author and finisher of my faith, I rest and know that He is God.

Here's a Bic lighter sitting on my table. If it stood up and said, "I know I'm supposed to be a cigarette lighter, but...I feel like maybe I'm just a wad of melted plastic. I'm just laying here on the table, useless." I would say: "Look dummy. I don't care what you feel like. I bought you because you're a lighter, Bic created you to be a lighter, and that's what you are. Period. Now tell me again: what are you?"
"Um, a lighter?" "Good." Then I flick it and it lights my candle and I'm happy.

Christ bought me. He paid a dear price. He put a label on me, and He uses me to His glory in His way in His timing. My prayer is always "use me in my brokenness, Lord". He knows who I am better than I do. He made me. It may seem to me at times I am not "being" a Christian. But he says I belong to Him and I believe Him. Maybe I'm delusional, but I don't feel guilty for stuff anymore, except on the rare occasions when I intentionally do something bad (and it's never something I planned, usually done in a moment of anger, and these moments are fewer and farther between). My trust in Him is unfailing. I truly believe that no matter what befalls me, He is with me. I may not always be faithful and He knows that but He is always faithful.

Actually I think guilt is a major thing in Christianity. I have been in times where I am filled with guilt and don't even know over what. However at some point it seems we find that guilt comes because we are not relating to God like we should. We fill ourselves up with religious concepts and great ideas to do the Christian thing in order to squash the guilt, yet we don't go after the true God and what He really wants from us.

Did you see a common pattern in your Christian life when you experienced guilt? From what you said the common theme is that you are not doing enough; this indicates that you realized you were not in the right with God. We need targets to know where this "unrightness" comes from, and so we figure it's that we must not have read enough or prayed enough or done enough good works. So we think, "God must not be pleased with this," and begin asking God to forgive us for sins that we invented in our minds in order to restore us to being in the right. However, by doing this we invent another god in our minds, a god that we can understand (and so place ourselves in his right). We "know" what he must be feeling about our "sins!" And so we begin serving this god who gives us a reason as to why we are not in the right with him. However the real God, who knows the real reason, is ignored.

This shows that we either don't have a firm enough belief in God to think that He would answer us, or that we are unwilling to listen because we really are in love with our own lives too much and would be uncomfortable with a big change. Jesus came to save, but only those who were willing to accept His message. Part of His message was, "Take up your cross and follow Me," and "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it." This all shows that those who experience a lot of guilt have ceased serving the real God at some point in order to have to do lesser things to get into the right.

There are obviously different degrees of this idolatry, but it centers on one key thing. Our minds subconsciously make these idols because our inner being does not want to really follow God, but wants what will make it feel good. Ironically the thing that we think will make us feel good, which is following an idol, actually makes us more miserable, because we receive a never-ending thirst for peace with God that cannot end until the idol is gone and we reconcile ourselves with Him.

Originally posted by Doubting John

When I was a Christian I felt guilty almost all of the time. I knew that it was by grace I was saved through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. I knew I could never earn salvation by my works too. Only by faith could I be completely forgiven in God's eyes.

And yet, I was reminded every time I read the Bible, prayed or attended church what I must do as a Christian in response to God's love. If I was grateful for God's free gift of grace, then I should respond and behave like I was grateful. And I did try.

But I never felt like I was praying or reading the Bible enough, even though at an early stage in my Christian life I prayed 1 hour a day, and read the Bible 1 hour a day. I never felt like I was donating enough money, or evangelizing enough, either. Then there were temptations of greed, lust, laziness, and worldliness which always plagued me. I even had some people on my hate list, whom I just couldn't stand, and I just couldn't forgive.

I tried. I tried to give myself over to the power of the Spirit to take control of my life. I prayed for the power to live a spirit-fulled life of righteousness, knowing full well even as a Christian I could never be perfect--that was something to await in heaven.

But I always felt guilty, at least nearly 4 or 5 times a day. I prayed for forgiveness and felt clean again, of course. But then I started to feel guilty that I didn't spend that much time in prayer praying for the real needs of the world.

Now I am pretty much guilt free, and I'm lovin' it--freedom!

But what about you? How do you reconcile the grace-guilt-grace trip as a Christian?

Not really, but then again, I was diagnosed as an Autistic-Psychopath as a child.

You know DJ, from reading your posts, I get the impression that even though you are no longer Xtian, you are still a preacher.

Old DJ: "Accept Jesus and feelings of guilt would be washed away."

New DJ: "Reject religion and feelings of guilt would be washed away."

Originally posted by Doubting John

When I was a Christian I felt guilty almost all of the time. I knew that it was by grace I was saved through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. I knew I could never earn salvation by my works too. Only by faith could I be completely forgiven in God's eyes.

As a Christian I also pondered that often... I remember reading and re-reading and trying to grasp the concept that to preach just the cross to someone was foolish without first indentifying that they had offended God: like offering medicine to someone who wasn't sick... First I had to help them understand they were sick in a way that could not be experienced by the senses or psyche... It was spiritual... a nature inherited in bygone ages by a man they never knew and that their nature could not be escaped - everyone will sin, offend God, and die in hell... that's staggering to hear and to preach... I felt horrible telling people that but I felt just as horrible thinking that I might be responsible for not telling them...

I've wondered if the incredible mechanisms and counter-weights of guilt / responsibility and so forth are not carefully crafted to trap the human soul... It works well... but I should mention I haven't the foggiest clue if any of that is true or not... but it was enough to be perplexed and hence doubt.

But I never felt like I was praying or reading the Bible enough, even though at an early stage in my Christian life I prayed 1 hour a day, and read the Bible 1 hour a day. I never felt like I was donating enough money, or evangelizing enough, either.

Indeed it can seem as though in trying to be 'Christ-like' the mortal is asked to be the immortal while still bound in the finite world. How can you fill the measure of Christ who is - by Biblical standard - equal with God? Again this may not be the case but it is enough to perplex...

But what about you? How do you reconcile the grace-guilt-grace trip as a Christian?

Don't know if I'm loving it... I indeed do truly doubt even the nature of reality... Isn't just enjoying it all without thought hedonism? Nonetheless, I cannot confirm nor deny the spiritual world or physical world so it's sort of persistent perplexity....

But thanks for asking!

No.

I see prolonged feelings of guilt as a sin -- as either a lack of faith (which I feel guiltly for)(1) or a lack of initiative to change.

'Guilt' for me is increasingly becoming and opportunity to thank G_d for forgiveness and an opportunity to change my ways. I refuse to let the deval push me around with this and move to keep turning guilt into victory.

Slap guilt onto me and I'll confront my pride and repent - I win.
Slap guilt onto me and I'll praise G_d for forgiveness - I win.
Slap guilt onto me and I'll forge an opportunity to change - I win.

Sitting around mulling over vague feelings of badness is nothing but loss.
That is no longer for me.
It has nothing to do with Christ.









--------------------
NOTES:
1: Joke

WoW!

Some superior responses! Thanks! I guess you understood from my post that I wasn't trying to work my way into heaven.


Chick YOU ARE ON FIRE!

Once I realized what was going on with the guilt, I came to this conclusion: I will allow no church, person, or doctrine to try and convince me
a. I'm not worthy
b. I'm not saved
c. I should feel guilty
d. I don't have the Holy Spirit
e. I'm going to hell

JawaMan:

Part of His message was, "Take up your cross and follow Me," and "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it." This all shows that those who experience a lot of guilt have ceased serving the real God at some point in order to have to do lesser things to get into the right.

Hmmm. That message is indeed guilt producing. Those who experience a lot of guilt may very well be people who are further down the road than you. The closer I got to God the more guilt I felt because I could see my sin clearer. The farther away from God you are the less you feel guilty, I believe.

Johnny EC:

You know DJ, from reading your posts, I get the impression that even though you are no longer Xtian, you are still a preacher.

Old DJ: "Accept Jesus and feelings of guilt would be washed away."

New DJ: "Reject religion and feelings of guilt would be washed away."

Once a preacher always a preacher, I guess. But I'm not saying the one should reject Christianity in order to live a life with less guilt. I'm just saying that this is the result when one does. And I'm finding that I still am as good to people as I ever was as a Christian too, but without the specific kinds of Christian guilt. And I no longer feel guilty for my thoughts either, just my actions.

mentored1:

I felt horrible telling people that but I felt just as horrible thinking that I might be responsible for not telling them...

Me too!


Mad Gerbil:
Your initial and final answer to this thread is:

No.

Congratulations! That's something I could never say.

Oh, and by the way, how often do you look at pornography on the web? How does that make you feel?

Come on and be real with us.

Originally posted by Doubting John

When I was a Christian I felt guilty almost all of the time. I knew that it was by grace I was saved through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. I knew I could never earn salvation by my works too. Only by faith could I be completely forgiven in God's eyes.

And yet, I was reminded every time I read the Bible, prayed or attended church what I must do as a Christian in response to God's love. If I was grateful for God's free gift of grace, then I should respond and behave like I was grateful. And I did try.

But I never felt like I was praying or reading the Bible enough, even though at an early stage in my Christian life I prayed 1 hour a day, and read the Bible 1 hour a day. I never felt like I was donating enough money, or evangelizing enough, either. Then there were temptations of greed, lust, laziness, and worldliness which always plagued me. I even had some people on my hate list, whom I just couldn't stand, and I just couldn't forgive.

I tried. I tried to give myself over to the power of the Spirit to take control of my life. I prayed for the power to live a spirit-fulled life of righteousness, knowing full well even as a Christian I could never be perfect--that was something to await in heaven.

But I always felt guilty, at least nearly 4 or 5 times a day. I prayed for forgiveness and felt clean again, of course. But then I started to feel guilty that I didn't spend that much time in prayer praying for the real needs of the world.

Now I am pretty much guilt free, and I'm lovin' it--freedom!

But what about you? How do you reconcile the grace-guilt-grace trip as a Christian?

I think you must be in a form of denial to say you are "guilt-free'. Because all of us have expectations from others and ourselves about life. Late to work, no guilt...hmmm...bad thing. Ignore your kids...no guilt...bad thing. Guilt can be very very good. It makes us aware of the yetzer hora and the yetzer tov at work in all of us. It inspires us to make HIGHER decisions than just the common and easy ones that present themselves daily.

To feel guilt for transgressing the laws of G-d is a good thing. To feel guilt for not being "perfect"...is a very arrogant thing. YOu expect yourself to be perfect..and so you expect others to be perfect...and if they aren't..you really don't like them (our yourself) much. This is the problem with "obsessive" guilt.

In judaism it is a sin to NOT enjoy the gift of life that G-d has given to you. Feeling guilt constantly because you "didn't read the bible".. only detracts from our joy in reading scripture. Feeling guilt for not praying enough...actually makes us not pray as much...because we create a barrier between ourselves and G-d and in a sense BLAME him for our bad feelings.

So...yes I feel guilty if I disobey scripture...it's a good thing. And yes..I feel guilt at times for not being perfect..but I repent (paradoxiacally), because whom am I that I think I should do everything perfectly... and thank HaShem for the good things He's given to me to enjoy. Prayer and scripture, for example.

Our rabbi tells us this:

Our journey towards G-d is a climb...an assent..to what is holy. The torah is the mountain that we climb. IF we fall...we don't curse G-d. We don't curse the Torah. WE don't curse ourselves. WE just get back up and begin climbing the mountain again. This is LIFE! This is what it means to be a living, experiencing HUMAN...and if we despise our own humanity..we will also despise our creator.

Shalom,

BETZER

Betzer:

You're right, no one lives without some guilt.

Only a sociopath lives a completely guilt-free life.

So what I meant is this:

I'm living without the specific kinds of Christian guilt spelled out in my first post. And I no longer feel guilty for my thoughts either, just my actions.

But that is a lot of guilt off of my back! Compared to my Christian life it's almost like I am now guilt-free.

But you're correct.

Hmmm. That message is indeed guilt producing. Those who experience a lot of guilt may very well be people who are further down the road than you. The closer I got to God the more guilt I felt because I could see my sin clearer. The farther away from God you are the less you feel guilty, I believe.

If it's guilt that leads to change, it's one thing. Guilt that remains and comes a lot shows how far one is from God. You said, "The closer I got to God the more guilt I felt because I could see my sin clearer." However, as the Bible says (and so is related to the spiritual experience), love covers an abundance of sin. Where there is love, there is no guilt. So the person who truly loves God would not live in constant observance of it.

By the way, I am not denying people futher along than me can struggle with it. I am also not denying that we as people set up an abundance of things, other than guilt, which sidetrack us from God. I'm not claiming I love God fully and so I don't experience guilt. However I know to dwell on guilt is to mean that I am not yielding to God, and knowing this helps me when it comes.

Originally posted by Doubting John

Oh, and by the way, how often do you look at pornography on the web? How does that make you feel?

Come on and be real with us.

You've managed to ask about a sin with which I've never had a problem.

I won't answer questions about other potential sin in my life because if you keep guessing you'll hit one (or a dozen) eventually.

One must be aware of the following:

1: Not feeling guilty doesn't mean one isn't guilty.
2: Feeling guilty doesn't mean one is guilty.

In short, the feeling has little to do with the reality.

Originally posted by Doubting John

But what about you? How do you reconcile the grace-guilt-grace trip as a Christian?

Christians never felt "guilt" until recent history because the Biblical world was an honor and shame based society.

The grace-guilt-grace trip is a phenomenon of modern individualism and can be laughed off as such.

No, DJ, before you say it -- people in honor-based societies are not "sociopaths". They simply have other means to control behavior than we do.

Remember once again that your world is not all that exists.

John,
There are two things in your post that I really want to draw your attention to, because it shows a common contradiction in the thinking of what I suspect are most believers (or supposed "ex-believers" if you insist).

Originally posted by Doubting John

When I was a Christian I felt guilty almost all of the time.

This is also quite common, but the solution is simple (though it can be difficult). Oddly enough, you supplied the solution in rest of the paragraph, but I don't think you realize it:

I knew that it was by grace I was saved through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. I knew I could never earn salvation by my works too. Only by faith could I be completely forgiven in God's eyes.

It's one thing to have "head-knowledge" of the fact that we are saved by grace through faith, and that works haven't a thing to do with it. It's quite another thing to really BELIEVE it, however, and that's where the old guilt-trip comes in. Now here comes the contradiction I mentioned. Yes, you're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, but then you go on to say:

And yet, I was reminded every time I read the Bible, prayed or attended church what I must do as a Christian in response to God's love. If I was grateful for God's free gift of grace, then I should respond and behave like I was grateful. And I did try.

Pow! There it is. Notice for a moment what I underlined and let's read on:

But I never felt like I was praying or reading the Bible enough, even though at an early stage in my Christian life I prayed 1 hour a day, and read the Bible 1 hour a day. I never felt like I was donating enough money, or evangelizing enough, either. Then there were temptations of greed, lust, laziness, and worldliness which always plagued me. I even had some people on my hate list, whom I just couldn't stand, and I just couldn't forgive.

When you failed (and we all do), where did you place your emphasis when it came to correcting it? Here's a hint; just count the number of times the word "I" appears in the above paragraph. I count 8. That's a lot.

I tried.

No doubt you did. But at the same time, this was your downfall and the reason you felt so guilty. When it comes to combatting sin in our lives, as believers, we have two options. One, we can try to improve our performance. It's a noble cause, but at the same time self-defeating. Why?:

(Rom 7:11) For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

(1Co 15:56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
If you set out to improve your performance by attempting to adhere to a system of commandments (I must pray more, I must forgive more, etc., etc.) guess what sin is going to do with that? It's going to take those very commandments and beat you over the head with them. In essence, by taking this approach, you're giving sin the very ammunition it needs to defeat you. So what's the solution?:

(Col 2:6) As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

How did we receive him?:

(Col 2:7) Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

We received him by grace through faith, did we not? Therefore, how should we walk? By faith, and not by the works of the law, whether it be the law of Moses, or any other! But how can this help you combat sin, you might wonder?:

(Gal 5:16) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

"Ok, fine, how do I do THAT?". Understand that you can't "walk" in something that is spiritual by attempting to fulfil something that is carnal (law). To walk in faith IS to walk "in the Spirit", and you're doing that, guess what happens AUTOMATICALLY? You won't fulfil the lust of the flesh, that's what. Faith is simply a mindset; a trusting relationship with our savior.

(Phi 4:8,9) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

You see, the battle is not waged in the flesh by attempting to maintain a righteous way of life according to some carnal commandments. The real war takes place in the mind. Every evil thought, along with every righteous thought, begins there. If you "set your affection on things above", and don't fret over your failures here on earth, guess what will happen as a result? For one, you will not "fulfil the lusts of the flesh", because you're not thinking about those things. Secondly, as Paul writes, "the God of peace shall be with you". No more guilt!

But I always felt guilty, at least nearly 4 or 5 times a day. I prayed for forgiveness and felt clean again, of course.

On who's behalf were you asking forgiveness? Consider what Paul writes in Romans 7:

(Rom 7:16-18) If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Understand that when you look in the mirror and wonder how God could possibly love someone who fails him so often, you aren't really looking at yourself at all!

(Rom 7:22) For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

The moment we believe, that old inward man is "crucified with Christ", put to death and replaced by the one new man that is "created in righteousness and true holiness". But when Paul looks in the mirror, so to speak, what does he see?:

(Rom 7:23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

He sees the corruption of sin in his flesh. The good news for us who believe however, is this:

(2Co 5:16,17) Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

And thus Paul reveals our true identity. We aren't that disgusting sin-corrupted bag of flesh that does nothing but fail us (and God) at all! We are a new SPIRITUAL creature living inside this body of sin.

(Rom 7:24,25) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

God isn't interested in these fleshly bodies at all. The sin which corrupts them is irrelevant. We are "new creatures" in Christ and will one day shed these bodies of death.

But then I started to feel guilty that I didn't spend that much time in prayer praying for the real needs of the world.

We're all human beings, and I can guarantee you that even the most righteous-looking guy on earth has exactly the problems that you describe. You know what? IT... IS ... OKAY! Seriously. Just look at this:

(Rom 5:8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Now think about it. If Christ was willing to die for us while we were yet sinners, just imagine what he's willing to do for us now that we aren't sinners any longer in the inward man! So relax, God understands better than anyone that we live in a fallen body and struggle with these issues as a result. If you placed your trust in the finished work of Christ, just take a deep breath and realize that when you fail, "it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me". It's all about understanding our identity in Christ. As long as we keep that fact fresh in our minds, the guilt disappears.

Originally posted by jpholding

Christians never felt "guilt" until recent history because the Biblical world was an honor and shame based society.

The grace-guilt-grace trip is a phenomenon of modern individualism and can be laughed off as such.

No, DJ, before you say it -- people in honor-based societies are not "sociopaths". They simply have other means to control behavior than we do.

Remember once again that your world is not all that exists.

Hey DJ, I found some an article that can help you understand this:

http://www.doceo.co.uk/background/shame_guilt.htm

Hupe that helps.