Love as a Remedy for Guilt

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary describes the word "guilt" as:

a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation. An obligation, according to the same dictionary, means: an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound.

Love is motivation to action: we need love in order to fulfil the things that are required of us. Without love we are unable to do the things we are meant to do. If we fail to do what we are morally or legally bound to do, we end-up with a sense of guilt; or as the dictionary puts it: a feeling of having done wrong or failed in an obligation.

But if we are made aware of what love is from the Bible, and the fact that it must be received from God, we can be set free from guilt. A proper knowledge of what love is, sets us free from trying to do what love is, and does, in our own effort. A failure to walk in love can be attributed, at least in part, to a failure to understand that God is love (see 1 John 4:16) and that only God is good (see Matthew 19:17). Love is not something we do, but moreover, something that we receive.

An understanding of righteousness also sets us free from a sense of guilt. Righteousness means that we are accepted by God as we are without condemnation.

The Old Testament asserted that we had to try to adhere to God’s perfect standards – something that mankind could never do. The sacrifice of Christ paved the way for the New Testament which, for those who believe, makes God our Father and we His children.

In the same manner as an earthly father-son relationship, our Father in Heaven is longsuffering towards us and accepts us as we are, knowing that we grow in His grace as we learn more about Jesus.

As we transition our thinking from an Old Testament perspective to the New – the way we see God changes: we no longer see God as a harsh taskmaster, keen to punish the most minor slip-up. Now we see God as being our loving Heavenly fathe - kind, gentle and loving towards us, eager to see us grow and develop, only punishing us in order to correct us.

A major part of this development is the knowledge of what love is and that it is not akin to sheer willpower alone. As soon as you begin to really understand a particular aspect of God’s love by studying the Word, you gain a sense of relief as you realise that it is something that you can never achieve in your own effort.

The Bible says in 1 John 5:3 that His commandments are not burdensome. In Matthew 11:30, Jesus Himself said, My yoke is easy and My burden is light. If love was something that we could do ourselves, then it would be burdensome. But love is something that we receive from God, and as such, it is not burdensome.The knowledge of love brings a relief to those people who feel utterly weighed-down by the demands of religion and other people.

The knowledge of love, what it is and its true Source - exposes self-righteousness for what it is and debunks the kind of religion pioneered by the Pharisees, scribes and chief priests of Jesus’ time. The knowledge of love exposes fraudsters and highlights self-righteousness for the sham that it is.