When You Don't Feel Guilty About Your Sins--Guest Post

This post was first published by Laura Rose at God Never Fades.

One day awhile back ago I did something that fills me with shame. I tarnished the trust between me and one of my teachers, and the worst part is that she didn’t even know that I had done so. She continued to trust me even though I knew that I did not deserve it. Right now the thought of it fills me with shame and remorse, but at the time, I didn’t care. I actually condoned what I had done.

I had sinned and I knew it. I didn’t care though. I couldn’t care less. This shocked me. Never before in my life had I ever felt this way. Whenever I did anything ‘bad’ I immediately felt guilty. I made myself sick to my stomach thinking about it until I asked for forgiveness or somehow fixed the situation. This time though, was different.

I didn’t feel any of that, during or in the following days. It was as if nothing happened because I didn’t feel that I had done anything wrong, even though I knew that I had.

The truth is that our feelings are deceiving sometimes. Just because you don’t feel something, doesn’t mean that those feelings are the truth. 

You feeling one way does NOT mean that you SHOULD be feeling that way. 

Feelings do NOT equal truth.

Sinning is not always going to feel bad. In fact, sinning can actually be enjoyable. Just read James 1:14-15.

“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”

James 1:14-15

 

Sinning comes from our own desires, so it’s not always going to seem bad. You trust yourself to make good decisions. Maybe you won’t think that you did something wrong due to this trust. However, God knows what you did. And God wasn’t pleased. God is very serious about our sins. They don’t seem okay to Him, and you can’t just brush them away.

Whatever you desire is directly correlated to your actions.

In my case, I desired a good grade. This desire directly correlated to my actions.

I wasn’t desiring to be a good Christian at the time and I wasn’t desiring to follow God and His principals, so my actions showed that. Your heart holds your desires, and those desires can’t stay hidden forever.

“But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.’"

Ephesians 5:13-14

You can’t hide the condition of your heart forever. So, turn yourself over; turn your desires over to God. Get rid of your desires that don’t point towards Him. They lead to sin, temptation, idolatry. Nothing good can come from a heart that desires something other than God. Throw off your old, sinful nature and point your heart to Jesus. Let the Spirit renew your heart. Clothe yourself in this new nature. Be pure. 

Obey His Word. Don’t let your heart wander wherever it pleases.

“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Ephesians 4:17-24

“How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping it according to Your word.

With all my heart I have sought You;

Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

Your word I have treasured in my heart,

That I may not sin against You.

Blessed are You, O Lord;

Teach me Your statutes.

With my lips I have told of

All the ordinances of Your mouth.

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

I will meditate on Your precepts

And regard Your ways.

I shall delight in Your statutes;

I shall not forget Your word.”

Psalm 119:9-16

Laura Rose is a child of God and a blogger who is on a mission to share that God NEVER Fades. She loves gardening, reading, spending time with her family, and spending time with God. To learn more about Laura and her journey with Christ, visit her at godneverfades.wordpress.com!

Sorry, the comment section is still disabled. Thank you for your patience! But feel free to check out this post on her website and comment there!

Read More

0

Book Review: Grace Triumphant

From the back of the book:

      “Profligate London, 1788. Slave ships haunt the seas, bearing human cargo to further the wealth of the rich and destroy the souls of the slave traffickers.

      Russell Lawrence is an avid skeptic. Captain of the slave ship Barbados, wealthy, and a respected leader, he views religion as a crutch for the weak. But when the debauchery of the slave trade begins to destroy his good morals, his battle becomes more than fighting pirates and mutineers. What if there really is a God?

      Impressed as a cabin boy, Jack Dunbar sees his forced service on the Barbados as a God-given opportunity to witness Christ to the crew. But his efforts to influence the hardened slavers seems to be doing little good. How is it possible to live as a Christian on the sin-ravaged seas? Can his light shine bright in Africa's dark interior?

      Back in Grosvenor Square, Elizabeth Grey battles opposition from society and her self-seeking fiancé. Her work with John Newton to end the slave trade is being harshly attacked. She faces life branded as a jilter and radical if she stands up for what she believes in. Will she ever glean the strength to call sin by its rightful name?

      A tale of adventure on the high seas, redemption, and faith. Sin abounds. Is grace enough to conquer doubt and triumph over evil?”

From the back of the book:

      “Profligate London, 1788. Slave ships haunt the seas, bearing human cargo to further the wealth of the rich and destroy the souls of the slave traffickers.

      Russell Lawrence is an avid skeptic. Captain of the slave ship Barbados, wealthy, and a respected leader, he views religion as a crutch for the weak. But when the debauchery of the slave trade begins to destroy his good morals, his battle becomes more than fighting pirates and mutineers. What if there really is a God?

      Impressed as a cabin boy, Jack Dunbar sees his forced service on the Barbados as a God-given opportunity to witness Christ to the crew. But his efforts to influence the hardened slavers seems to be doing little good. How is it possible to live as a Christian on the sin-ravaged seas? Can his light shine bright in Africa's dark interior?

      Back in Grosvenor Square, Elizabeth Grey battles opposition from society and her self-seeking fiancé. Her work with John Newton to end the slave trade is being harshly attacked. She faces life branded as a jilter and radical if she stands up for what she believes in. Will she ever glean the strength to call sin by its rightful name?

      A tale of adventure on the high seas, redemption, and faith. Sin abounds. Is grace enough to conquer doubt and triumph over evil?”

About the author:

Alicia A. Willis is a homeschool graduate and an avid historian. From an early age she has had the desire to write family friendly, accurate books about the past. When not writing or doing endless historical research, she enjoys singing, being a church pianist, and teaching music. She and her husband live in Tennessee.

 My thoughts:

Alicia Willis is a dear friend of mine and I’ve read a number of her books—all of which I recommend. However, Grace Triumphant is probably her best (though it’s a close race with From the Dark to the Dawn). Her writing style grows more potent with every book.

I enjoyed Grace Triumphant very much. It is not a light read; it’s very heavy. It is about the slave trade and the majority of the book is on a slave ship.

      Alicia’s characters were very strong. They had personality, fears, strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. I particularly liked Russell and Jack, who seemed very real.

      I was particularly impressed with the development of Russell throughout the story. He started off basically as a moral atheist. He refused to participate in the normal evils associated with slaving. However, as circumstances got harder throughout the course of the book, Russell was left with one question, “Why am I being so moral?” When his morality was put to the test, he realized that he had no reason to be upright. And thus he declined slowly throughout the book. Without unnecessarily giving away too many spoilers, I was very pleased with how he was changed at the end. I was expecting the change to be forced, since he was such a hardened character. However, the author handled it beautifully, which left me pleasantly surprised.

      As always, Alicia’s book was highly researched even down to social customs and sea faring expressions. It has a strong Christian message which is woven beautifully throughout the book without sounding “preachy.”

Sexual content/language/profanity:

      This IS a story about the slave trade…

      There are no curse words or swearing explicit in the text. There are also no explicit sexual descriptions. However, there is a strong immoral theme on the slave ship. There is a scene on the coast of Africa where the African women are trying to seduce Russell. While nothing is explicit, this is not a scene for young children.

What I didn’t like:

      Considering all the things I loved about this book, the minor things I did not find ideal were very insignificant. The only thing was how long the two storylines of Russell and Elizabeth were separate, and how little they ended up connecting at the end. Either way, it did not take away from their individual journeys and the way each character grew along the way.

Final thoughts:

Grace Triumphant was an excellent book that I highly recommend. I also recommend reading From the Dark to the Dawn, as well as checking out her other books. You can connect with her on her blog, or on social media. Her writing is exceptional and she is a wonderful person to get to know! 

Blog

Grace Triumphant

From the Dark to the Dawn

Comrades of Honor

God of Her Fathers

Remembering the Alamo

I'm sorry, the comment section is still disabled. Thank you for your patience! Until then, please feel free to hop over to Alicia's blog and connect with her!

Read More

0