Article by: Sarah Koontz, Founder of Living by Design Ministries
This article is for all of the moms out there who wear self-condemnation and fear like a weighted garland around their neck; women who are on the verge of drowning in the ferocious sea of guilt.
Grab hold of the lifebuoy of truth I am about to share with you.
Allow the One who rescued me from the sea of guilt pull you to safety as well.
Guilt is a deceitful life companion.
There was a time in my life when I too was drowning in a sea of mommy guilt.
With each new milestone my baby met, I found myself sinking all the more; violently thrashing to stay just above the waterline.
My personal sea of mommy guilt was filled with a multitude of vicious predators.
The expectations of others.
My desire to be a perfect mom.
The responsibility I felt to do right by my children.
The deep spiritual craving to please God in my motherhood.
Even the few successes I managed to claim as a young mom were overshadowed by the guilt I felt when I failed.
Guilt was a way of life for me until I discovered the truth I am sharing with you today.
When I learned that there are two distinctly different types of guilt, one that binds and one that brings freedom, everything changed.
There are two distinctly different types of #guilt; one that binds and one that brings #freedom
True Guilt versus False Guilt
True guilt occurs when we do something sinful, like raising our voice in anger when our children misbehave or lying to our spouse.
The purpose of true guilt is to convict us of sin and bring us to a place of repentance before God.
True guilt always brings about fruit and action in our life.
Once we have recognized our sin, we are to embrace God’s forgiveness and take positive action to right the wrong.
False guilt, on the other hand, traps us in a place of self-condemnation.
False guilt entices us to second guess ourselves, focus on our failures, and withdraw from community.
It is a tool of the enemy with the sole purpose of holding us in bondage and preventing us from living fruitful lives.
False guilt is rarely tied to sin; it is the kind of guilt that makes us feel less-than, unworthy, and incapable.
The purpose of false guilt is to get our focus off God and onto ourselves!
If there is no sin tied to your guilt, then you must recognize it for what it is: an attack from the Evil One.
He wants us to live in bondage and self-condemnation, to feel unworthy of giving and receiving love.
He wants us to second guess our abilities, to compare ourselves to others, and to focus on our failures.
Most of the guilt that we would label as “Mommy Guilt” is false guilt, and it is time for us to break free!
Guilt should be a short-term emotion, not a chronic condition.
Guilt should be a short-term emotion, not a chronic condition.We have been allowing what God created for our good to be used as a tool of destruction by the Evil One.
Guilt is supposed to operate like an x-ray machine.
It reveals something important, but it doesn’t have the power to fix it.
Guilt’s purpose is to reveal sin in our lives.
If you are feeling guilty, ask God to reveal sinfulness in your heart.
If there is no sin, then you are experiencing false guilt.
False guilt becomes void of power in the presence of God’s truth.
There was a time when I felt powerless in my struggle against false guilt.
Even when I recognized it for what it was, I was unable to break free from the cycle of self-doubt and condemnation.
My identity as a mom was so closely tied to those feelings of inadequacy and failure; I simply did not know how to exist without them.
My own personal breakthrough came when I realized that I needed to replace the lies I was believing about myself with God’s truth.
God’s truth is this…..
He loved me, even when I was full of sin and unlovable (Romans 5:8).
Because of Jesus sacrifice, I am no longer condemned (Romans 8:1-2).
I am a new person, full of righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).
When I confess my sin before Him, I am forgiven (1 John 1:9).
He has equipped me for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
When I cast my cares on Him, He will faithfully sustain me (Psalm 55:22).
I’ve heard it said that people aren’t willing to let go of something we have until we find something better to grab hold of.
God’s way is always better.
God’s truth frees us from the bondage we have been living in and gives us hope for the future.
God’s truth gives us the strength to fight the lies that threaten to overcome us.
Through God’s truth, I have found freedom from the mommy guilt that once threatened to swallow me whole.
I no longer allow myself to wallow in false guilt because I have recognized it for the ugly lie that it is.
God’s powerful truths have freed me up to be bold and confident in my mothering.
God’s truth has freed me up to be bold and confident in my mothering.I am no longer plagued with self-doubt and condemnation because I am no longer believing the lie that I am not good enough.
I have been rescued from the sea of mommy guilt.
God has thrown me a lifeline, and I am desperately hoping that you grab hold of it as well.
When you seek God’s truth with all of your heart, you will find it.
And His truth will set you free!
P.S. Mommy guilt is out of control in our society. If you believe that the message in this article is valuable and necessary, please take a moment to share it with your friends on social media. If you love Pinterest like I do, then you’ll definitely want to add the image below to your “Inspirational” board. Thank you for helping me spread God’s message of hope and forgiveness!
