The Identity Driven Life: Session 3 – The Blame Game

Notes:

The Blame Game

  • Guilt may be the most powerful negative human emotion
  • Guilt is the result of the reporting of the conscience
  • Guilt is the fear of punishment

The consequences of guilt can be overwhelming.

  • Satan will use guilt to get you to draw back from God
  • Others will use guilt to manipulate and control you

Handling Guilt – Wrong Ways:

  • Run from God
  • Blame Others
  • Denial
  • Rationalize
  • Self-punishment
  • Despair
  • Compensate

Handling Guilt – God’s Way:

Righteousness through the blood. This is illustrated by:

  • Adam and Eve after the Fall
  • Cain and Abel
  • The letter to the Hebrews.

The Hebrews were called to “repentance from dead works and faith towards God” (Heb.6:1).

Remember, guilt is both a legal state and an emotion. Therefore, God wants us not only to know we are forgiven but also to feel we are forgiven.

This involves two things:

  1. We must be convinced that even the thought of our sin has been removed from God’s mind
  2. All consciousness of our sins must also be removed from our hearts and replaced with righteousness consciousness

Heb.9:14 says that the blood of Jesus purges our conscience from dead works. This is because when we feel guilty our natural tendency is to look to our performance in an effort to feel good.

  • For God to cleanse our conscience from sin He had to establish a faith which eliminated any calling to mind of our sins. See Heb.10:1-3.
  • In this way Christianity is contrasted with every other religion. See Heb.10:11-12.

When you understand that you are righteous before God no one will ever manipulate you again

# Answers to this quiz are found in the notes above. Click on quiz to commence. Only correct spelling is recognised. A minimum 70%  correct is required to advance to the next session.