Guilt

The third form of guilt, inauthentic guilt, rises from a misnomer: we are not guilty; we are anxious. Most of us learned early that enacting who we are was not particularly welcome, was even risky, so we learned to split from our own nature and did so long enough to lose contact with it. In each of us there is a protective monitor. When a natural

Guilt is another attempt by the ego to create an identity, a sense of self. To the ego, it doesn’t matter whether that self is positive or negative. What you did or failed to do was a manifestation of unconsciousness — human unconsciousness. The ego, however, personalizes it and says, “I did that,” and so you carry a mental image of yourself as

Often, when a person declares, “I feel guilty over such and such,” what the person really means but rarely acknowledges is, “I am afraid that if mother or father knew about what I had done, I would be condemned.” We frequently find that the person does not actually regard the action as wrong. In these circumstances, the solution to the problem of

For years I was completely upside down about guilt. The crazy thing is that while this was going on I could give you a detailed, theologically accurate account of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. I sang songs about the love of God. I wrote songs about the love of God. I even went to seminary and wrote papers on salvation by grace. But when all

Guilt is not a feeling but a belief or judgment. Appropriate guilt is a judgment that is self-confronting and leads to resolution. Neurotic guilt is a judgment that is self-defeating and leads to unproductive pain. Appropriate guilt is resolved in reconciliation and restitution. Neurotic guilt seeks to be resolved by punishment. In appropriate

Man feels remorse when he has been at fault; and he feels shame because he lacks something. Shame is more original than remorse.