What Good Is Guilt?

Leviticus 7

The Guilt Offering

   ¹ " 'These are the regulations for the guilt offering, which is most holy: ² The guilt offering is to be slaughtered in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and its blood is to be sprinkled against the altar on all sides. ³ All its fat shall be offered: the fat tail and the fat that covers the inner parts, ⁴ both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the covering of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys. ⁵ The priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made to the LORD by fire. It is a guilt offering. ⁶ Any male in a priest's family may eat it, but it must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.

    ⁷ " 'The same law applies to both the sin offering and the guilt offering: They belong to the priest who makes atonement with them. ⁸ The priest who offers a burnt offering for anyone may keep its hide for himself. ⁹ Every grain offering baked in an oven or cooked in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who offers it, ¹⁰ and every grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, belongs equally to all the sons of Aaron.

Are there days when you feel like a failure at everything you do?  Your tongue lashes out in cruelty at the very children you love.  You lose patience with co-workers.  The envy you've fought so hard to control gets the better of you and your heart actually fills with hatred toward a neighbor.

When God shines the light of His Word down on our inconsistent blunders, we cower in its brightness and dart away to find cover. Ooooh!  It's so hard to face up to our errors as guilt points its accusing finger.

What good is guilt? It actually opens the door to healing.  We have to see--really see--our sinfulness in order to receive God's grace.  We who deeply desire righteousness must turn our faces full into the light of God's perfection.  There we can see our sin and our need for His grace.  And in that brightness we can see the love on God's face and His desire to restore us to Him.