Burdened by this sin...

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chrissy1972

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When one sins, they repent. Begging for God to forgive. Then sin again. It's that vicious cycle that we, mere humans, are stuck in. I give thanks to Jesus for dying for our sins.

I have sins that I have repented and still feel tremendous guilt for them. I repent again and STILL carry guilt. I pray for the person that I crossed, yet still, carry guilt. It's weighing me down so much that it affects my life. I don't feel lighter when I lift it to the Lord and it's as if, He wants me to carry it. Thoughts??
 
Hey Chrisy I know what you mean! As Christians we will struggle and sometimes it becomes a cycle. We are still waging a SPIRITUAL battle to do what is right! Our flesh tends to be in conflict with the Holy Spirit!

Ephesians 4:30, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

Ephesians 6:11-17: "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Romans 7: 17-20, "As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."


May you be encouraged, we run this race TOGETHER.....We fail, but only by God's grace can we carry on!=)
 
Thank you, RK. Thank you so much. I really enjoyed the passages you listed. I went and read further. I am encouraged. I will continue to pray and let God help me through it. You are a vessel. Blessings.
 
Hi Chrissy
It so happened to me the same. But as the bible says confess your wrongs to one another.
If you wrong somebody God waits untill you make the thing right with that person. Thats when God comes in and relieves you but as wrong you keep praying for God to forgive you it will never leave.
Jesus said if you bring your offering and when at the altar you remember something that you wronged your brother just leave your offering and go and make things right first and after that come and offer the sacrifice.
May be you wronged someone and in your mind you know i do believe thats the right way to fight the devil although he brings alot of discouragement of what that person will say about you when you confess to him.
"this just a text from a pator who was counselling a lady..And he could discern her heart and see the things that had happened.. pliz read it

This woman had the act with the man, and she took her husband, confessed it, and went to the man and confessed it, and made it right. Now, the next man was a married man also; now, he's got to go to his wife and take the wife and come back to this wife. Then it's all right. See what I mean? It's made up then. But outside of that, you'll still be guilty, and down in your heart you'll be condemned.
I had a woman not long ago up there that had that since the First World War. And she said, "Oh, Brother Branham." She'd spent hundreds of dollars with psychiatrists and everything. And I was setting there watching her in that room. Meda brought her up there. She was setting there ringing a handkerchief through her hands like that, said, "I feel the world's going to burst, and I..." all like this.
I just kept setting there. I said, "Now, there's something about... You've got something in your life somewhere?"
"No, I'm a Sunday school teacher."
I said, "All right." Set there a little bit and watched. I said, "I see a little green car, and you're with a blond headed man, and a train almost hits the car."...?... She said, "Don't you tell nobody that."
I said, "Your husband was in the army at the time."
She started crying, jumped up, "Don't you say that to nobody." See? That was way down in her subconscious. She said, "I've confessed that to God a long ago."
I said, "But wait a minute. You never done a wrong against God. You done a wrong against your marriage vow. You've got to go back to your husband and make that right first."
She said, "He'll leave me."
I said, "God has left you anyhow. So now, which one do you want to leave you?" I said, "Go to him."
And she said, "Oh, I--I... He'd do this, and I got two children."
I said, "Well, that's all I can tell you. Psychiatrist never pulled that out of you, but the Holy Spirit has revealed; and I never seen you in my life."
She said, "That's exactly right." Said, "Well, I--I just can't tell him."
I said, "Well, I... Glad I met you." Went on in the other room, and she come back in there.
Meda said, "She wants you in there again."
I went there; and I said, "What do you want?"
And she said, "Brother Branham, I can't tell that to my husband."
And I said, "Your husband's a black headed man."
"Yeah."
I said, "He's got the same thing to confess to you."
She said, "Oh, not my husband."
I said, "You'd better go get him and come here." I said, "Do you know a certain woman that wears a pink dress, that works in the office of a certain kind of a automobile company?"
She said, "Sure."
I said, "Don't they call her a certain name?"
"Yeah."
I said, "Two weeks ago they set under a beech tree with a--setting in a little brown Chevrolet car with license number so-and-so, and was in the same act."
She said, "Not my husband."
I said, "All right, you go get him and come here."
She left. A few minutes, here they come back. He said, "It's the truth."
I said--I said, "You see? Now go tell God."
 
When one sins, they repent. Begging for God to forgive. Then sin again. It's that vicious cycle that we, mere humans, are stuck in. I give thanks to Jesus for dying for our sins.

I have sins that I have repented and still feel tremendous guilt for them. I repent again and STILL carry guilt. I pray for the person that I crossed, yet still, carry guilt. It's weighing me down so much that it affects my life. I don't feel lighter when I lift it to the Lord and it's as if, He wants me to carry it. Thoughts??

Hi Chrissy,

I know exactly how you feel. Being a 37 year old single male who had my share of intimate relationships before turning my life over the the Lord, I have had more than my share of struggles.

The advice you have been given so far is good advice. Accountability, confessing your sin to a brother or sister in Christ (a sister would be best in your case) that you can trust not to gossip about you behind your back and one who you can call in the those moments of weakness, can help a lot. However, that still doesn't answer the question... "If I am a new creature in Christ, why am I still struggling with this?"

Over the years I've talked to fellow christians about this and have recieved different advice. Some would say that if I say that if I truly repented and was sincere, God forgives me and I that I should stop beating myself up about it and that condemnation only comes from the enemy. However, this advice didn't make me feel any better. I still felt empty.

Others have tried to convince that when Jesus died on the cross, He died for my sins past, present, and future and that there's nothing I could do to lose my salvation so why worry about it. This didn't work either because with every time I stumbled I felt as though I was falling further and further away from God.

Finally I could not stand it anymore. I had to do something. That's when I decided to fast for as long as it took to recieve a revelation from the Lord. After several of fasting, praying, and meditation on his word, boy did He ever show up!

He showed me that when Jesus came to this earth, He did more for us than simply die for the forgiveness of sin. He also came to show, by example, how we too can overcome in this life. Jesus lays out the blueprint for us in Matthew Chapters 5 through 7 in what scholars like to call "The Sermon on the Mount". Here Jesus describes the only lifestyle pleasing to God, a lifestyle where we toss all selfishness in the trash (because it is through our selfishness that we open the door to temptation) and we place all of our time and attention by not only putting God first but also the well being and needs of those around us before our own. Basically becoming a good & faithful servant who's only motivation is love and selflessness.

When I started to apply this revelation to my life, not only did I did my passion and fire return for the Lord but also I found that in those those times of trial and temptation (and they will come even more frequently and with more intensity), what were once hard mountains to climb, were now nothing more than mole hills that I can simply step over. Praise God!

Since then my fire for the Lord has returned and the huge hole in my heart has been filled! I am so in love with Jesus that I can't begin to describe how I feel! Wait... maybe I can... I FEEL FREE!
 
Hi Chrissy,

I know exactly how you feel. Being a 37 year old single male who had my share of intimate relationships before turning my life over the the Lord, I have had more than my share of struggles.

The advice you have been given so far is good advice. Accountability, confessing your sin to a brother or sister in Christ (a sister would be best in your case) that you can trust not to gossip about you behind your back and one who you can call in the those moments of weakness, can help a lot. However, that still doesn't answer the question... "If I am a new creature in Christ, why am I still struggling with this?"

Over the years I've talked to fellow christians about this and have recieved different advice. Some would say that if I say that if I truly repented and was sincere, God forgives me and I that I should stop beating myself up about it and that condemnation only comes from the enemy. However, this advice didn't make me feel any better. I still felt empty.

Others have tried to convince that when Jesus died on the cross, He died for my sins past, present, and future and that there's nothing I could do to lose my salvation so why worry about it. This didn't work either because with every time I stumbled I felt as though I was falling further and further away from God.

Finally I could not stand it anymore. I had to do something. That's when I decided to fast for as long as it took to recieve a revelation from the Lord. After several of fasting, praying, and meditation on his word, boy did He ever show up!

He showed me that when Jesus came to this earth, He did more for us than simply die for the forgiveness of sin. He also came to show, by example, how we too can overcome in this life. Jesus lays out the blueprint for us in Matthew Chapters 5 through 7 in what scholars like to call "The Sermon on the Mount". Here Jesus describes the only lifestyle pleasing to God, a lifestyle where we toss all selfishness in the trash (because it is through our selfishness that we open the door to temptation) and we place all of our time and attention by not only putting God first but also the well being and needs of those around us before our own. Basically becoming a good & faithful servant who's only motivation is love and selflessness.

When I started to apply this revelation to my life, not only did I did my passion and fire return for the Lord but also I found that in those those times of trial and temptation (and they will come even more frequently and with more intensity), what were once hard mountains to climb, were now nothing more than mole hills that I can simply step over. Praise God!

Since then my fire for the Lord has returned and the huge hole in my heart has been filled! I am so in love with Jesus that I can't begin to describe how I feel! Wait... maybe I can... I FEEL FREE!

I would like to suggest a book to you if I may. It's called "Culture of the Kingdom" by Billy Humphrey and it helps describes in modern terminology the lifestyle I referred to in my previous post. To sum it up, it's basically a crash course in Christ-Likeness. Send me a private message if you would like a link to purchase this book.
 
Check the movie or the book of John Buyan. A pilgrim's progress: Journey to heaven
It is about a man with the burden you are currently talking about.
 
Thank you all! I am reading with tears. I really needed someone to reach out to me and help me with direction. All of your responses are each so helpful. I can't thank you enough. I would love to check out the suggested reading that you both mentioned.
 
what we must remember ,in this lifetime we will continue to struggle with sin until we die .thats just reality,and feeling convicted of sin is a wonderful thing!! that just means Hes still workin on us, we are a work in progress until the day of redemption. conviction is one thing ,guilt is another ,guilt can come from us knowing that we really arent trying our best or it could just be an attack from our enemy just to weigh us down and burden our hearts and minds ...we know he certainly doesnt want us to have peace .when weve truly repented thats it..its done over ,God forgets it .so must we. And keep fighting this good fight of faith!! just a few things that came to mind..hope it helps a little .Gb
 
if you have sinned against god, ask for repentance, if you sinned against another person(which is still sinning against god) ask of forgiveness from both them and god.
 
When one sins, they repent. Begging for God to forgive. Then sin again. It's that vicious cycle that we, mere humans, are stuck in. I give thanks to Jesus for dying for our sins.

I have sins that I have repented and still feel tremendous guilt for them. I repent again and STILL carry guilt. I pray for the person that I crossed, yet still, carry guilt. It's weighing me down so much that it affects my life. I don't feel lighter when I lift it to the Lord and it's as if, He wants me to carry it. Thoughts??

Gods mercy is everlasting, but He is asking you to repent and crucify your flesh once and for all.


The crucified life and what it looks like!

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.
al 5:24 But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let also walk in the Spirit.
Rom 6:6 knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.
When it comes to a true saving faith (obedience) there is no point going further until you understand what it means to be crucified with Christ!
You can argue night and day about the Sabbath, Baptism, Pagan holidays, the rapture, head coverings etc., and miss the most important issue of all, and that is have you actually crucified your flesh with Christ, through real repentance and faith(obedience)once and for all in reality?
Or have you bought into the great lie of deception being taught today by the army of false teachers who have either been duped themselves, or are under the great delusion sent by God!
2Th 2:10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.
IF you are still in bondage to sins of the flesh, and I am talking about willful rebellious sin, done presumptuously in hate, guile, malice, anger, or lust, then you did not crucify your flesh with Christ.
This is not a process, that takes place over time, or a symbolic occurrence that took place when you said the sinner’s prayer and then trusted Jesus did it all, and in Him you are crucified in position, because He obeyed for you, because you cannot possible crucify your flesh in your own ability.
Apart from real repentance, and a working faith in love, where you must crucify your flesh with Christ, then you are in danger and must do your first works, repent, and come to a saving faith.
Thus a real crucified convert will look like this:
Walking in newness of life!
Departed from iniquity!
Obedient to the truth!
Loving not the world!
Loving neighbor as self!
Putting God first and foremost!
Abstaining from all forms of evil!
Lover of the truth!
Contending earnestly for the pure word!(truth)
Keeping himself undefiled and unspotted from the world!
Guarding his heart above all things!
An overcomer through the blood of Christ!
Living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age!
Having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness!
Departing or departed from the lukewarm church who promotes the lie! (Saved IN sin, Romans wretch, chief of sinners, faith alone, substitution aka imputation, OSAS, etc).
A doer of God’s word and not a hearer only!

Jesus said,
Joh 8:51 Truly, truly, I say to you, If a man keeps My Word, he shall never see death.
Joh 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Joh 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.

To be crucified with Christ as you can see is a very serious matter, you cannot be IN sin and IN Christ at the same time, they don’t mix, and not getting this right will make the difference between heaven or hell, God has given all mankind a choice, and a way out of bondage to sin, and the world.

2Co 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to God, so that you might suffer loss by nothing in us.
2Co 7:10 For the grief according to God works repentance to salvation, not to be regretted, but the grief of the world works out death.
2Co 7:11 For behold this same thing (you being grieved according to God); how much it worked out earnestness in you; but also defense; but also indignation; but also fear; but also desire; but also zeal; but also vengeance! In everything you approved yourselves to be clear(PURE) in the matter.

Jesus came to set mankind free, see John 8-32, but He didn’t come to be your substitute, in any way, shape or form, or to crucify Himself for you, He came to save us from our sins, through repentance and faith (obedience) where we crucify the flesh once and for all!

It’s not about perfection, it’s not about not needing Jesus, it’s not about being self-righteous or bragging I did it myself, etc.,, but it’s about, humility, brokenness, sacrifice, and a passion and zeal to count the cost, and come before the mercy seat in complete surrender and with a crisis of conviction, that leads to real godly sorrow, where the sin stops, and the flesh is crucified and put to death once and for all!

The crucified life then is a life on the narrow road, following Jesus as He commanded by denying self-daily, and taking up your cross and living a life pleasing to Him, walking IN the spirit, where you will not give any provision for the flesh!

Gal 5:16 I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.
Gal 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness,
Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The crucified life is living a dynamic life of faith (obedience) to the truth, doing what is right by choice and also a healthy fear of an all Holy God, who is very patient and longsuffering toward us all, not wanting any to die, but all to come to repentance! 2 Peter 3-9.

The Crucified life is more about obedience, than perfection, sin is missing the mark, which we all do every day, BUT, does missing the mark mean we miss by falling into porn occasionally, fornication on occasion, getting drunk in a weak moment?

Many will say yes, we all fall short, which means everything we do is as a filthy rag before God, but is this honest? Is this the truth? Does a true follower of Christ, make His or her life a life of continued hate, evil and lust?

If your life consists of a pattern of falling into the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye’s, and the pride of life, either on occasion, or on a daily basis, then you have NOT crucified your flesh with Christ, and you may be waiting for the Lord to do this for you in due time, but God is waiting for you to humble yourself, and make the right God given choice, to crucify your flesh once and for all with Him as outlined above!

PS. I get tired of professing Christians who say they cannot stop sinning (fornication, lying, cheating, hating, drunkenness, homosexuality, porn watching, idolatry, love OF the world, etc.)
Because all sin is the same, which is just a scapegoat for them to avoid the commands of God to repent, stop sinning, crucify their flesh with Him, and follow Him on the narrow road!

Remember a truly crucified heart does NOT live a life of falling occasionally into vile sins that lead to death, yes many mighty men and women of God have fallen, some found repentance some did not, BUT to say this is the normal Christian experience is a lie, and used as an excuse to feed the flesh, and not use all the tools God has given us to resist temptation, overcome sins of the flesh, and put the flesh to death in repentance.

We all will be judged just how God finds us, not in perfection, but in living a life above the flesh and its evil desires, walking in purity, sincerity, and love and faith (obedience). Faults, mistakes, poor judgments, sins of ignorance, misplaced zeal, missing the mark in these areas are not sins leading to death, but can be when they lead us into any guile, hate, envy, lust and pride, that is why we must walk the crucified life, and be very sensitive to all our faults and mistakes, confess them to God, and grow more in the likeness of Jesus Christ.

One is willful presumptuous sin that is total rebellion towards God, a mental decision to disobey Him, and ignore His warnings and power to find a way of escape. This leads to death, but the other does not, and will not lead to death, unless we allow it to lead to rebellion against God, and lust of the flesh, lust of the eye’s and the pride of life!
It’s simple either you are living a sincere, pure life before God, guarding your heart against willful sin and temptation, or you are not, Jesus isn't asking His followers to be as perfect and spotless as He is, BUT IS asking His followers to obey His most un burdensome commands, and stop making excuses for sin and worldliness, He wants all our attention and love, not a divided heart between the world and Him, and most importantly, a heart made pure through repentance and faith proven by deeds, where the crucified life is the abundant life unto Him! Not a life filled with self, lust, and evil thoughts and ways!

Rev 22:11 He acting unjustly, let him still act unjustly. And the filthy, let him be filthy still. And the righteous, let him be righteous still. And the holy, let him be holy still.

We will be judged on how Jesus finds us when He returns or when we die, not in perfection or living a self-righteous life, but either the crucified life in purity, sincerity, and love, OR the un crucified life of self, lust, pride, and bondage to sin and disobedience!
Tommy 6-8-12
 
Did either of you bother noticing this post is from Jan 2009 and the OP is no longer a member?
 
=chrissy When one sins, they repent. Begging for God to forgive. Then sin again. It's that vicious cycle that we, mere humans, are stuck in. I give thanks to Jesus for dying for our sins.

I have sins that I have repented and still feel tremendous guilt for them. I repent again and STILL carry guilt. I pray for the person that I crossed, yet still, carry guilt. It's weighing me down so much that it affects my life. I don't feel lighter when I lift it to the Lord and it's as if, He wants me to carry it. Thoughts??

The book “Prayer Can Change Your Life” by Parker explains it through telling of a man praying for his arthritis. He went to the Lord for half an hour a day saying “Lord I have arthritis”. So the arthritis got worse. What God asked him to do instead was to let the arthritis go to Him, and then work to clear himself of resentments, grudges, times he didn’t forgive, or those things standing between him and God. God hears us the first time we speak, we don’t have to repeat it.