“And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10, ESV)
Many years ago, a man named Gary Dahl came up with an idea. He created a fad called the Pet Rock. These were being marketed and sold in retail stores in the mid 70’s. It was basically a box that contained a rock with some instructions on how to care for your new pet and how to train it. Certain tricks the Pet Rock learned easily, like I readily learned the command, “stay.” However, others were more difficult.
Considering emotional wellness and healing, it seems that many people have Pet Rocks. Of these pet rocks, the most serious are the sins that we have committed that we just keep picking up. I have known many people who have failed through a transgression and just cannot let it go. Yes, they have confessed and repented from such past acts, but still are plagued by them to their detriment.
What are the problems associated with this failure to let go of the rock of past moral failures, that is our sins? A major one is guilt. Many people hold on to a guilty feeling for something that Christ has already forgiven them. In this case, the one who has already expressed godly remorse that resulted in confession and repentance, is experiencing false guilt. This is a ploy the devil uses to disrupt the Christian’s joyful journey of faith.
Along with this, Christians will often feel that their past failure has hindered them from serving God as they desire. Thus, they feel that they have been disqualified for service, which is totally contrary to the purposes and ways of God. He will always restore the truly repentant to usefulness in the kingdom.
So, what are some steps the believer can take to over come this problem and quit picking up the Pet Rock of past mistakes? First, realize that the feeling of guilt is a false deception. If you have dealt with this past sin through confession and repentance, resist the devil’s evil ploy.
Second, reaffirm the finished work of Christ on your behalf. The writer of Hebrews stated it correctly, “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” When Christ died on the cross, He atoned for your sin once and for all. It is a done deal.
Third, instead of re-confessing the same sin over and over again, take a different approach. I have had people come to me stating that they continue to feel guilty over something they had done years ago. They were continuously confessing the same specific incident of sin over and over. My counsel to them is that God states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, ESV) It is forgiven, a done deal, with no need to confess the same incident again.
However, I do not leave it there. My advice is to take a radically different approach. Instead of confessing the same sin over and over, I tell them that when they sense that guilt to give thanks to God for His forgiveness and cleansing. In this way, they defeat the devil’s scheme to steal their joy and get them off track in their Christian walk, and give glory and praise to God. When we praise God for His mercy and grace, we defeat the devil’s main objective and he will flee from us because he cannot stand it when we praise and glorify God.
Renewing the Heart 