I wrote this message about 5 years ago in examining my own history with binge eating.
As night follows the day, so did guilt and shame descend upon me after a binge. Perhaps this message will help those who are struggling with guilt and shame in the aftermath of binging:
"I feel guilty or I feel ashamed."
How many times has this happened: You are tempted to binge, you take the bait, and then after the binge is over, a nasty voice tells you how awful you are for taking it!
In my own life, this has happened to me too many times to count.
When I was writing this, a scene from the Peanuts comic strip came to mind.
Remember how Lucy always tempted Charlie Brown with the football? She would lie and tell Charlie Brown that she would hold the football for him to kick.
Now Charlie Brown knew that Lucy would probably pull the football away at the last second because she always had.
But somehow, she always managed to convince him that this time, it would be different.
Lucy would hold the football, Charlie Brown would run for it, pull back for the kick…and Lucy would pull the ball away, leaving poor Charlie Brown tumbling head over heels.
The final frame would usually show him lying on the ground, bruised and humiliated. Lucy would be standing over him, giving him yet another reason as to why he shouldn’t have trusted her.
It’s the same thing with temptation; each time you go for it, you think the outcome is going to be different.
It never is. You always end up bruised and battered.
If you have stumbled, remember that God loves you anyway.
Confess and repent. Ask God to show where you slipped so you can learn from it and move forward. That’s it.
Receive your forgiveness and move forward. Condemnation and guilt have no place there.
In my thesaurus, the word guilt has many synonyms: Blame, fault, error, and crime.
The true reason that Satan likes to inspire guilt in us is to make us feel too ashamed to go to God, to keep us separated from Him.
However, just as we love and forgive our children when they mess up, God does the same for us. The Bible states, “Who can bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33 NKJV).
As God’s children, nothing can separate us from His love, not tribulation, not distress, or sword. We have an advocate in Jesus Christ.
Think of it: You’ve got Satan on one side, quoting all of your sins before God chapter and verse, and you’ve got Jesus on the other side, the greatest lawyer who ever lived.
He can answer each one of the enemy’s charges with a simple, “That sin is forgiven. I already paid the price.”
Again, all we have to do is ask for that forgiveness and the Father will grant it. The bible assures us of that fact. The only way you can combat a lie is with the truth.
So the next time you hear a voice that is telling you, "You are a sinner; you’re not good enough," you can answer, "According to 1 John 1:9, I am forgiven. According to John 16:27, I am loved. That's the truth and that's all I need to know."
Be Blessed in Health, Healing, and Wholeness!
Kimberly Taylor
Take Back Your Temple
www.takebackyourtemple.com