Lately I’ve been freshly reminded of the need to resist guilt, shame, discouragement, and accusation from the enemy. This has been an area of struggle for me for a while, but I am excited to say that, by Yahweh’s grace and strength, I’ve been gaining victory in this area. HalleluYah! The battle is by no means over, but progress is being made. To all who are reading this, and particularly to those who wrestle often with thoughts of guilt and shame, I’d like to share some things that have helped me on this battlefront. I would also encourage you to read an earlier post entitled The Second Arrow.
Let’s begin with Psalm 103…
Psalm 103:10-14 — “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, so YHWH has compassion on those who fear Him. 14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”
Wow, let that sink in. Perhaps the greatest thing that has helped me overcome guilt, shame, and discouragement has been arming myself with the knowledge of Yah’s abundant, overflowing lovingkindness toward His children. Read verse 11 again. Yes, Yah’s love for His children is that great!
…But what if we sin? What if we stumble? This is where the enemy can really get a foothold with guilt and shame if we are not vigilant. Read verse 12 again. If we stumble, we must repent and ask Him to wipe away our sins. Once we do — here’s the key — we must acknowledge that our sins are washed away by the blood of Messiah. Let’s look at some more verses.
Psalm 86:5 — “For You, Adonai, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.”
Isaiah 1:18 — “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says YHWH, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.'”
Micah 7:18 — “Who is an Elohim like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love.”
Ephesians 1:7,8 — “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us…“
Notice Ephesians speaks of “His grace which He lavished on us.” It doesn’t say, “His grace which He drizzled on us” or “His grace which He trickled on us.” Yah’s mercy is not a drip from a sink that is just barely enough to cover our sins. Yah’s mercy is like a waterfall, pouring over us and cleansing us completely when we confess our sins to Him. Also, remember Psalm 86:5, that He is “ready to forgive.” Yah is not slow to cleanse us from sin. He is waiting and eager to draw us close to Him and to wash our garments when we turn to Him.
Even when we are reproved by Yahweh for our sin, it is because He loves us. Proverbs 3:11,12 says, “My son, do not reject the discipline of YHWH or loathe His reproof, 12 For whom YHWH loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.”
Let’s conclude with two more verses.
Revelation 12:10 — “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our Elohim and the authority of His Messiah have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our Elohim day and night.'”
Philippians 3:13,14 — “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of Elohim in Messiah Yahshua.”
Notice how Revelation calls the devil “the accuser of our brethren.” When we back down at the enemies accusations of guilt and shame and look back at past mistakes, we are prevented from moving toward the upward call of Elohim. Praise Yahweh for the day when the accuser will be thrown down! Until then, let us forget what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead, rejoicing in the Father’s lovingkindness which truly is “as high as the heavens are above the earth.”
Psalm 36:5,7 — “Your lovingkindness, O YHWH, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies…7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O Elohim! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”
(All Bible passages NASB; Hebrew transl., emphasis added.)
Exhortation Station 
Good stuff, Jonathan! Two things hit home for me with this: 1) That a big effect of false guilt and shame is often to make us feel ineffectual so we back down from tasks Yah has called us to, thinking ourselves unworthy of the challenge. (Realizing that makes me extra-vigilant to refuse it!) and 2) that He wants us to refuse false guilt and shame simply because He wants us to see — and sense, and feel — His great love for us for our own sakes. Thank you for these great reminders, Jonathan!
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Amen, great thoughts. Your first point made me think of 2 Corinthians 9:8 — “And Elohim is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” Not only does Yah’s grace cleanse us from sin, but it also gives us strength and provision in abundance to do that which He has called us to do.
I’m also reminded of Romans 8:37-39 — “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of Elohim, which is in Messiah Yahshua our Lord.”
There is strength in Yah’s love!
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