Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people: praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

- Psalm 30:4-5

Praising through guilt.

I remember in my teen years getting into trouble once for missing curfew on a Friday night.

I didn’t miss it by a few minutes, but by a couple of hours.

In fact, my parents were supposed to be away for the weekend and my dad had to drive back home to check on me because I was not where I was supposed to be. There is more to the story, but that’s for another time. The part that I remember most is that Saturday.

My dad had left again to be with my mom at their weekend away as planned. I’d been briefly chastised, but woke up Saturday to an empty house and a deep sense of dread.

I knew I had messed up big time, and that my sentencing would come down Sunday night when they returned.

I spent the rest of that weekend alone in our home cleaning every nook and cranny I could. It was guilt cleaning. I felt so bad for what I had done, and was so worried about the consequences, I let my guilt drive my actions.

Many of us function this way with God. We mess up in our hearts, minds and actions and then we begin to operate out of guilt, trying to “work off” our sin, even though we know it doesn’t work that way.

Can I propose something new? Let’s praise Him through our guilt instead.

• Let’s praise God for being merciful and gracious.
• Let’s praise Him for new mercies every morning.
• Let’s praise Him for letting us bring our confessions right to Him.

Don’t work your guilt off, praise through your guilt and let that praise get your heart and mind back on the path God has laid out for you.

Spend time today praising God for forgiving you for something specific you have said or done this week.

With Love,
Janay