If the entire universe, after creation, was supposed to be a
movie, you all will agree with me that the first scene of that
movie was a love scene. In one of the scenes the author of the
movie called the universe said, “Let us make man…” You
cannot make what you don’t love. In another scene he said,
“for it is not good for the man to be a lone…” You can only have
compassion on what you love and the people you love.
Much later we realized that one of the names of the author of
the Universe is Love because the manuscript that he wrote
through which we are to act out the scenes of our lives says that
he is Love. Consequently, God must have enjoyed watching us
celebrate a day like this because we call it the lovers’ day. Here
is the implication. If we are celebrating lovers’ day and the
Bible says that God is love and we know that Love – God – can
only reproduce Love – His children – then it means we are
celebrating God who is love and His children – you and I, the
seeds of love.
This year we have taken the bull by the horn having decided to
confront an issue that even the giants are contending with. We
all have temptations to fight just like Jesus fought His and did
promise that in this world we shall have tribulations. We are
facing this issue because no wise man in his widest
imagination thinks about how to avoid temptation but how to
manage it. If temptations were avoidable I think the scripture
would not have said that we have a high priest who has gone
through every temptation that we are going through and still
did not sin.
Many of us cannot celebrate ourselves any more because of
this one thing that we all must go through. We have gone
through and are still going through various temptations and
sometimes we wonder if it is ever possible to stay clean. We
feel so dirty and so unworthy to come into the love that God
has showered on us. When we intend to read the word of God,
a moment when the Holy Spirit is waiting to communicate
with us, we block the pending communication with the Spirit
because we are feeling so guilty that we think we should not
read his word.
It is exactly for that reason that I would say thank God we are
guilty. Thank God we feel bad for going to bed with a
prostitute. Thank God we are not happy with ourselves simply
because we smoked. Thank God we do not feel too happy
about coming to church when we have just finished hurting
some else. Thank God we feel guilty about not
communicating properly or out of eye service with someone
else.
I guess you are wondering why I am thanking God for our
realization of the fact that we are sinners! I read Philip
Yancey’s book – WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS - and this
great author was able to convince the readers of that book that
pain is profitable to man. What do I mean. His proposition can
be explained by saying that man will not know it is not good to
touch fire if he does not feel pains. Man will not know when to
pay attention to his body if he does not feel pains. He went
ahead to talk about some people whose legs were being
chopped off by rats and were dying gradually because they
couldn’t feel pains. In order words, we have lived longer than
we should because we can feel pains and take necessary
actions.
That is the same thing that guilt is supposed to do to us. T.D.
Jakes explains that guilt is a proof that God has given us the
grace to change. Feeling guilty is not as important as
neglecting the guilt. You were not made to feel guilty so that
you can nurse the guilt.
Here’s an issue. Revelation 3:19 says “As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten…” (NKJV). Another one says, “To all
those who are dear to me, I give sharp words and
punishment…” (Bible in Basic English). Following these
words, it means the reason you are feeling guilty is that God
still loves you. You need to be told that there are some people
who don’t feel guilty anymore. A father instructs a child either
nicely or harshly simply because the child still enjoys love.
Thank God we are guilty. Guilt is a mechanism of God to
check us in line with His precepts. Thank God we are Guilty.
Guilt is a proof of love. Thank God we are Guilty. Guilt is an
invitation to repentance. The only reason we feel guilty is
because we still have a conscience. Using the illustration of
the prodigal son when the father ran towards the son having
decided to come home, Bishop Mike Oye said, “when we take
one step towards God, He takes ten steps towards us. The
purpose of the GUILT MECHANISM is not to nurse the pain
because there is no greater pride than refusal to repent. Like
the prodigal son’s father, God is waiting to run towards us if
we take one positive step in response to the guilt.
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This text was delivered at the annual valentine programme organized by Edible Pen Organization in Springs Of Life Fellowship, Olabisi Onabanjo University on the 14th Day of February 2008.
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