GREATER THAN OUR HEARTS I

It is a simple path to a great deal of pain and struggle if we persist in living with guilt and shame to define ourselves. But I think there is a deeper involvement in these considerations. John, an apostle, wrote:
“This is the way we know that we belong to the way of truth. When our hearts make us feel guilty, we can still have peace before God. God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. My dear friends, if our hearts do not make us feel guilty, we can come without fear into God’s presence.” (1 John 3:19-21)

This seems like a sure-cure for guilt and shame: “God is greater than out hearts” (v.20)… “when our hearts make us feel guilty.” (v.20) But I think I see a deeper issue. The last verse of this section says: “We know that God lives in us because of the Spirit God gave us.” (v. 24) When we have God’s spirit is us; where is it? I believe the Spirit resides in our conscience. In various places in scripture including this one, it is “the heart.” My contention is that for the sincere disciple of Jesus, guilt and shame is a wounding of our spirit in our hearts, which is greater than simply an emotion. Fortunately, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” That erases the blackboard. “We can come without fear into God’s presence.” (v.21) We come by faith in the work of the cross that set us free from our own self-evaluations.

“’A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.” Jesus