My Bible Blog

Go Away Guilt:

I was not actually planning to write anything today, and I had already planned out in my mind how my next three chapters would look like. However, there is something that I need to write, even just for myself, first.

Lately, I have been super busy with work. I may have mentioned before that I work from home, and I feel like all I do is work. My house is a mess, I have not been able to study my Bible for the last couple weeks, and I have been placed on a new medication that is making me absolutely exhausted. Oh, and my laundry? Don't even say that word. All of my free time apart from work, it feels, has been dedicated to exercise and then sleep.

Thus, I have been feeling very guilty. It probably sounds weird, but I feel like, no matter what I do, I am neglecting something. If I am doing one thing, I should always be doing something else. If I am doing paperwork, I should be studying the Bible. If I am cleaning my house, I should be getting the laundry done. If I am spending time with my family, I should be finishing that work project due Monday and vice versa.

Of course, this guilt does nothing but make me feel bad. I feel like I am a failure as a Christian. I do a morning devotion everyday, which takes about 10-15 minutes, and then I read a devotion before bed for about 10 minutes. Sometimes, I add in a quick podcast or Bible study at work, but these are so short that I wonder if they are worth my time.

But what if I could do all these things at once? Do I mean studying the Bible while in the shower while simultaneously being on a work conference and finishing that last load of laundry? No, of course not, I am not that delusional. (Though if you have been reading this blog and don't know that I am at least a little crazy, you might have to read it again.)

Let me explain. This morning I was reading my devotion, and I read something that I had read at least 100 times before, "Jesus is always present every moment of our day. He walks beside us." This time, something different happened. I had to set down my phone and I realized that I was feeling guilty over the wrong things.

Most people do not have time to do a three hour Bible study everyday. If you do, you are amazing, and maybe you should take over this blog. I, for one, do not. Even during the 20-25 minutes that I read the Bible everyday, I feel disconnected. I read the words, but they do not really sink it. That is my point. You could read your Bible for three hours each day, and it could make no difference in your life.

God is everywhere. I realized that I need to take the few moments that I have in the Bible and apply them to the best of my ability. Reading the Bible for ten minutes and then actually living it and thinking about it throughout your day is much better than spending a whole day reading, but forgetting everything once you close that book. God is not with us only when we read the Bible or are in church. He is with us when we do the dishes. He is with us when we drive to work and see the pretty flowers along the road. In the beautiful sunrise and in the worst thunderstorm, He is still there.

It is so much better to do what you can with what you have than to do nothing because you do not feel like you have enough. There is no one way to be a Christian. You cannot screw it up if God is with you. (Or at least I tell myself that.) He is capable of working through every situation. Just because you did not have time to go to church this week does not mean that God has abandoned you. Let Him come in to the parts of your life that you usually separate from him.

That may not look like a lot to other people, but God knows your whole heart and intents. He knows when you are doing something in His name, and He can use that. Jesus died so that the guilt could be washed away. He died so that we could have peace, even in moments when we are having a rough time.

Finally, I would like to remind you, and myself, to stop the comparison game. People will always tell you what to do better, but what you do is between you and God. My advice is to be taken with a grain of salt. Things are not always how they look on the outside. There is no one "right way" to live or to serve God. If there was, we would all be the exact same. Let go of that guilt and do what you can with what you have.

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These last few chapters might seem sort of redundant, but I promise that there other things I would like to talk about. It was just that today these are the words that I needed to hear. Some people may already have this figured out for themselves, but I write this in case someone needed to hear it today too.

Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Thank you for reading.