What I learned from the latest Exorcist movie.

False Guilt = not good enough 

 

Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.

1 Corinthians 8:7 

 

False guilt can result in depression and spiritual paralysis. Someone suffering from false guilt may feel that God has given up on him and despair of ever being sanctified. False guilt tends to be very "me-centered," rather than God-centered. The tendency is to think we'll never be good enough and focus on our shortcomings.

 

The cure for false guilt is the gospel. If you're a Christian, start by confessing any known sin. The promise of God in 1 John 1:9 is for believers: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Remember that, once a sin has been forgiven, it's forgiven for good. God separates our sin from us "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).