In our discipleship group, someone asked this question.
I tried fasting for a week and after 72 hours , I broke it . I feel super guilty about it . How do I deal with this guilt and not think God is mad at me?
This was my answer…
You let yourself down, but you didn't let God down. When we don't reach our goals and disappoint ourselves, we have to process that and make choices to trust ourselves going forward. But God's not upset with you.
As far as fasting, it's a good exercise when we've become dull of hearing or hard-hearted toward God. It quiets our carnal bodies and desires and allows our spiritual senses to take a front seat, so you can remember who you already are in Christ.
As I continued to think about her question, it speaks to why we started Forward Church. Sara and I wanted people to know that God is not mad at them, that Jesus paid the price for our sin and exhausted all of God's wrath. Unfortunately, most of the Christian world doesn't know that, so we carry all kinds of guilt around when we should roll it off onto Jesus and live in the freedom he has given us.
He wants us to live righteous and holy lives, but when we fall short, he doesn't get mad and feel the need to punish us. He encourages us and reminds us that we are his child.
We're Harder On Ourselves Than God Is
It's easy to confuse letting yourself down with letting God down. If you fail to live up to a standard or reach a goal that is within healthy Christian living standards, it's easy to feel like God is upset with you, but He isn't.
It's natural to feel disappointed in yourself, but you have to remember to do a couple of things. First, remember that God is pleased with you because you are in Christ. He's not excited about your failure, but He's not going to judge, punish, or reject you over it. Secondly, remember that God is not holding your sins or failures against you anymore because Jesus paid for them all.
You might judge, punish, and reject yourself, but that would be unwise. The righteous person falls 7 times but gets up (Proverbs 24:16). Never falling isn't what makes or keeps you in right standing with God, the blood of Jesus does that.
So when you sin, or just fall short of a goal you've set for yourself, watch your self-talk. Be quick to encourage yourself to get up and keep moving forward. You going to fall, you're going to fail, you're going to disappoint yourself, but a winner gets up and keeps moving. Don't be a loser and make yourself a victim of your self-imposed judgment and punishment.
1 John 2:1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
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