Feeling Guilty?

I saw this editorial linked somewhere else and found it fascinating. So basically marketers have discovered that they they can manipulate us by making us feel guilty in order sell us stuff. This isn't new; it's just amazing to me how much people are driven by this emotion. I mean you see this is in the grocery store (if you really love your family, you'll buy this cereal), at car dealerships (remember the environment for crying out loud!), and even at electronics stores (your children don't have and I-pod -- what kind of parent are you!). It's easy to get caught up in it without even thinking about it. I've heard people say they feel guilty because they haven't watched a dvd in their collection in a long time or listened to an album in forever. I mean it really get's ridiculous.

So where does this come from. Honestly, I think a lot of this comes from Satan. One of the best ways for him to get us to keep us from glorifying God is to keep us focused inward and makeus feel like scum. Granted, there are things we do that we should feel convicted about. But the difference is that conviction will lead to positive change while guilt and shame just lead to more self-pity and self-hatred. If you think about this is one of the things that sets Christianity apart from just about all other religions. So many of them use guilt as a motivation - people will actually flagellate themselves because of they're shame. This is why Romans 8 is so powerful:

Romans 8
Life Through the Spirit

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

No condemnation. God sees us as clean. Really amazing to think about. So if we're feeling guilty, we should ask ourselves why. If there's really something we need to repent of, then let's do it. But if we've bought into Satan's lies, let's ask God to open our eyes so that we may live in his freedom!