Wrong ways to deal with guilt: 1. Deny that you are really guilty – “To stop feeling guilty, I need to throw off those antiquated standards [found in the Bible] and live by my own.” [Yet] what happens when you try to live by your own standards and you fail to keep even them? You are right back where you started. 2. Try to be a better person – Stop doing the behavior that is bothering your guilty conscience. [Yet] Most of us are not able to keep our [our resolutions] and our guilty feelings return. 3. Compare yourself to others – We…decide we don’t need to feel guilty as long as we can find someone who is acting worse than we are. [Yet] putting someone else down might give us momentary pleasure, but it doesn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that we haven’t measured up. [And when we realize our sin in doing this, it] just adds to our burden of guilt.
— Timothy Lane (b. 1961), Pfarrer, Buchautor und biblischer Seelsorger
Topics: Guilt & Forgiveness, Meaning & Identity
Occasions: For Reflection
Timothy Lane
Der US-amerikanische presbyterianische Pfarrer und Dozent Timothy Lane (* 1961) ist als Seelsorger und langjähriger Leiter der Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) tätig. Bekannt wurde er vor allem durch praxisnahe Veröffentlichungen zur biblischen Seelsorge sowie zur gnadenzentrierten Lebens- und Beziehungsgestaltung. Für Bibelleser bieten seine Schriften Ansätze, theologische Aussagen über Vergebung und Erneuerung auf zwischenmenschliche Konflikte und alltägliche Herausforderungen anzuwenden.
All quotes by Timothy Lane (7)
I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.
Henri Nouwen
There are two ways to do good: to give and to forgive.
Augustine of Hippo
God counts on your failure far more than you do yourself.
Hans Peter Royer
The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
Tim Keller
Forgiveness means allowing the other person not to have to be God.
Henri Nouwen
Love keeps no record of wrongs, but bitterness keeps detailed accounts.
Craig Groeschel
John Newton
Tim Keller