Guilt vs shame

[Lifelong_sinner]

Hello all. Have you ever had a sin that you didnt feel guilt or shame about??

my definitions of both to explain the purpose of this post.
Guilt: feeling bad about something you did.
Shame: feeling bad about who you are.

so i dont feel bad about certain sins when i do them. I know that as a person, im a sinner, yet i just dont have any shame about this.

im not a true christian. I know of the truth, but i dont have any feelings for it. One of the things i read in peoples testimonies is how people when hearing the gospel, seem to immediately understand their sin. And this leads to repentance.

i have tried to repent, but i feel like its not genuine, like im just going thru the motions. Kinda like simon the magician.
How does one feel contrition for their sins??

 

[Stumpmaster]

Hello all. Have you ever had a sin that you didnt feel guilt or shame about??

my definitions of both to explain the purpose of this post.
Guilt: feeling bad about something you did.
Shame: feeling bad about who you are.

so i dont feel bad about certain sins when i do them. I know that as a person, im a sinner, yet i just dont have any shame about this.

im not a true christian. I know of the truth, but i dont have any feelings for it. One of the things i read in peoples testimonies is how people when hearing the gospel, seem to immediately understand their sin. And this leads to repentance.

i have tried to repent, but i feel like its not genuine, like im just going thru the motions. Kinda like simon the magician.
How does one feel contrition for their sins??

Feelings can be deceptive and are not the criteria for pleasing God.

Repentance is about ceasing works that lead to death, because the wages of sin is death, and in so doing turning in faith toward God because the gift of God is Eternal Life.

I know of sinners that have responded to the Gospel with great shows of emotion, shame, and horror at their sinful decadence, only to fall back into it when temptation inevitably presented again.

Faith not feeling is required, which is trust in God to lead away from temptation and remove the burden of sin, whenever it is felt.

Hope these verses help . . . they exist for someone like you.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

1Th 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (24) He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

 

[MatthewG]

What is a true Christian to you @Lifelong_sinner ?

 

[Lifelong_sinner]

What is a true Christian to you @Lifelong_sinner ?

a true christian in simplest form, is a person who has heard the gospel, and as a result of being called by The Father Himself, feels a deep contrition for his being a sinner, has repented for his sins, believing in the gospel as absolute truth, and deeply desires to change his entire life around, to live for God.

 

[stunnedbygrace]

Hello all. Have you ever had a sin that you didnt feel guilt or shame about??

my definitions of both to explain the purpose of this post.
Guilt: feeling bad about something you did.
Shame: feeling bad about who you are.

so i dont feel bad about certain sins when i do them. I know that as a person, im a sinner, yet i just dont have any shame about this.

im not a true christian. I know of the truth, but i dont have any feelings for it. One of the things i read in peoples testimonies is how people when hearing the gospel, seem to immediately understand their sin. And this leads to repentance.

i have tried to repent, but i feel like its not genuine, like im just going thru the motions. Kinda like simon the magician.
How does one feel contrition for their sins??

Guilt is sometimes more than feeling bad about something you did. Sometimes, we feel guilt when we didn’t actually do anything wrong but others try to convince us we did. And sometimes we don’t feel guilt when we actually did do something wrong. We are an abject mess and we were raised by parents who are an abject mess and they were the ones who taught us about guilt, shame, anger, scapegoating. It’s an abject, ever repeating, useless way of life that we were taught. A lot of us just shut down our emotions very early on.

 

[Wrangler]

a true christian in simplest form, is a person who has heard the gospel, and as a result of being called by The Father Himself, feels a deep contrition for his being a sinner

As another poster pointed out, it is not about feelings, emotions. Consider the-evaluating your definitions.

A true Christian abdicates the throne of being the ruler of their own life. They defer to another as their master, who knows more and loves them more deeply than they love themselves. Their Savior and Lord is the Messiah.

Shame is about emotion for wrong doing.

Guilt is a binary absolute. You are or you are not. It has nothing to do with emotion.

 

[Wrangler]

i have tried to repent, but i feel like its not genuine

There you go again, falsely basing things on emotions.

Yoda said to Luke Skywalker Do or do not! There is no try. You have not repented.

Embrace a non-emotional concept of repenting. Repenting is what a swimmer does in a pool when they get to the wall; they change directions.

An objective measure of you repenting is, are you going in the same direction? Yes or no.

The Lord Jesus specifically said all those who call him ‘lord, lord’ will not be saved. This is hotly debated in this forum regarding the sufficiency of Grace. But I take Jesus at his word. He went on to say that only those who do the will of my Father will be saved. This means it does not depend on emotions but actions! Do not try. Repent!

You are headed toward the cliff of utter destruction. The world wants you to get lost in your emotions. So does the Adversary.

Hope this helps.

 

[Truman]

a true christian in simplest form, is a person who has heard the gospel, and as a result of being called by The Father Himself, feels a deep contrition for his being a sinner, has repented for his sins, believing in the gospel as absolute truth, and deeply desires to change his entire life around, to live for God.

There is a biblical based process called sanctification. Because of my lack of knowledge regarding this process, I almost perished. Many will tell you that I am wrong, that sanctification is instant. You need to decide what to believe.

 

[Wrangler]

Many will tell you that I am wrong, that sanctification is instant.

I believe salvation is instant. Sanctification is like taking a shower. Little by little you become clean. Some people don’t take a proper shower and just get dirty then have to start all over again.

 

[Lifelong_sinner]

There you go again, falsely basing things on emotions.

Yoda said to Luke Skywalker Do or do not! There is no try. You have not repented.

Embrace a non-emotional concept of repenting. Repenting is what a swimmer does in a pool when they get to the wall; they change directions.

An objective measure of you repenting is, are you going in the same direction? Yes or no.

The Lord Jesus specifically said all those who call him ‘lord, lord’ will not be saved. This is hotly debated in this forum regarding the sufficiency of Grace. But I take Jesus at his word. He went on to say that only those who do the will of my Father will be saved. This means it does not depend on emotions but actions! Do not try. Repent!

You are headed toward the cliff of utter destruction. The world wants you to get lost in your emotions. So does the Adversary.

Hope this helps.

what you describe sounds a lot like legalism to me. If you dont feel something of your sin, yet strive to do good, you wont ever actually beat that sin as the Holy Spirit isnt doing the work. You’re relying on your own ability to change. Thats not genuine repentance.

 

[stunnedbygrace]

what you describe sounds a lot like legalism to me. If you dont feel something of your sin, yet strive to do good, you wont ever actually beat that sin as the Holy Spirit isnt doing the work. You’re relying on your own ability to change. Thats not genuine repentance.

Eh, we can get all sorts of things mixed up and not even know we’re mixing them up.
The Galatians started out well in trust but took a wrong turn back to trying to finish the work themselves. I actually did the same thing. I felt God asked it of me but all He asked is that I keep trusting Him and He grows that trust all the time. I still sometimes get a little bit sideways, worrying about say…money, instead of trusting Him and I catch myself worrying and turn back to trust.

And as for legalism, I’ve got hung up on something or other for a time before. For a time I thought I must never open my shop on sundays. It was a touch of legalism.

 

[marks]

Guilt is sometimes more than feeling bad about something you did. Sometimes, we feel guilt when we didn’t actually do anything wrong but others try to convince us we did. And sometimes we don’t feel guilt when we actually did do something wrong. We are an abject mess and we were raised by parents who are an abject mess and they were the ones who taught us about guilt, shame, anger, scapegoating. It’s an abject, ever repeating, useless way of life that we were taught. A lot of us just shut down our emotions very early on.

Very well said!

Much love!