"I'll be home for Christmas; you can count on me," promises the popular song. Who'll be coming to your home in a couple weeks, hauling in suitcases, hugging you and embracing your heart?
Guilt promises to come. "Remember how you hurt that family member? Don't imagine that you can ever repair the damage you've done!" "Your husband, your wife, your child, died this year, not home for the holidays. Don't you feel guilty for the times you weren't loving?" "So dedicated to your career, to your corporate climb, you've shut others out, Mr. Scrooge!"
Not all bad! It's a naive preacher who imagines that guilt leaves when he preaches about Christ's forgiveness for our sins. True, God does forgive when you're sorry you've disobeyed Him and messed up in life, but any honest believer can't forget some things he or she has done. Guilt gets hard-wired into our feelings ... and only an outside word from God is able to deal with guilty feelings, take the edge off it, and sometimes remove it all together. "If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts" (1 John 3:20).
"I'll be home for Christmas; you can count on me." Advent means coming. When guilt comes, welcome some Bible reading at the same time, like Psalms 32 and 130. It'll stop guilt from dominating your holidays.
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