Struggling to Love Because of Guilt?

Human beings do things because they want to do them; introduce the concept of guilt — of external need to do the thing — then healthy desire goes out the window. We struggle when there’s external compulsion to do things.

Extrinsic motivation is unsustainable and, depending on our cultural bias, it can rebound horribly.

One of the biggest cons of the enemy is to inflict guilt on us — whether via ourselves or through others — convincing us to do things we don’t want to do, when we have a choice in the matter. The outcome is never a blessed result, even if it works out okay.

Anatomy of the Threat

Christian people, and those aligning with Christian ideals, must be especially careful of the propensity to say yes beyond the discerned will of God or the determined needs of the situation.

Telemarketers and most salespeople are skilled in the ‘art’ of persuasion and their abilities to negotiate, using guilt if necessary, give them reliable results. They merely utilise common attributes of human psychology, but for evil, unloving purposes.

Some people and situations, likewise, produce for us stimuli that’s designed to coerce us into making certain decisions — those we’d not normally make if they were our choice.

So, the threat is a prevalent one. It invades our daily lives more than we realise. To live free lives we must accord ourselves the freedom of escape from such guilt.

Rejecting the Guilt-Ridden Advances of the Enemy

It’s always the enemy that’s behind coercion when guilt is the chief weapon used.

This enemy is identified as the devil that wants us oppressed by our own minds.

Guilt is a veneer; a fabrication trying — and usually succeeding — to get us to do things via unloving ways, for unloving reasons, by holding “love” as the subject for ransom.

Guilt is saying, “Do this thing this wrong way, but it will work out, because it’s for love.”

But love doesn’t work that way. Love is not simply an outcome — it’s also the means to the outcome. Guilt has no part in it. Indeed, love is most action-oriented.

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The end of the matter of this discussion is don’t fall for guilt — the masterstroke of a cunning enemy.

We best stand our ground and do things because they’re right. We don’t gain, nobody does, in doing things out of guilt to achieve a loving result. These plans commonly backfire.

Garner love to do this thing. If there’s no love, reject point blank guilt’s advance.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.