Sometimes when the nights are quiet and my wife is sound asleep, I lie there and start saying a silent prayer to God. And then the spiral begins. I start by confessing my sins from the day and asking God to forgive me. That sparks the thoughts of some of the other sins I have committed in my life. Finally, I land my mind squarely on the two or three most ungodly things I have ever done.

Feelings begin to well up inside me, and guilt wraps its evil little fingers around my soul. While I know in my mind that I am forgiven, deep in my soul, I am not so sure. Even though I’ve prayed, confessed, and believe God’s promise of forgiveness, that heavy weight lingers.

The truth is that guilt is not from God once we’ve repented. Scripture says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). If God declares us clean, then the voice that keeps accusing us is not His. That’s the enemy trying to chain us to a past that Jesus has already freed us from.

Letting go of guilt doesn’t mean forgetting what happened, but it means trusting that Christ’s sacrifice is greater than our sin. It means believing that the cross is enough, even when our feelings say otherwise.

When guilt rises, I need to remind myself, just like you do: I am forgiven and I am free in Christ. That’s not wishful thinking; it’s the truth of the Gospel.