Life is complicated by our errors, mistakes, and misdeeds--”sins,” if
you will. We may end up with a burden of guilt that overloads our life
and drives us into depression and worse. But, the good news is that
“God redeems events and transforms lives.” Hiram Johnson is an “LCSW,” or for
us folks, a “Licensed Certified Social Worker” who practices with Crossway Counseling Center in Daphne.
Johnson talked to Zion’s men’s group from a background of life
experiences relating to hurt and depression. The depression grew out
of guilt and shame and the recognition that he could not forgive
himself for a horrible accident in his youth. During these times of
struggle, he became a Christian, but the depression and guilt was
unresolved. He explains, “I was ‘trying’ God instead of ‘trusting’
Him. Yes, I was ‘saved’ but I remained ‘miserable.’”
Misery and self-pity are toxic to the human being. “They wound the
insides,” because unless we forgive ourselves and work on the
consequences of our actions, we can never find God’s forgiveness. We
end up keeping the guilt inside and it poisons us. “We cannot control
what happens to us, but we can control what happens within us.”
If God loves people, how can He allow these memories to pain us so?
Johnson is quick with a response to that one. “These ‘thorns in the
flesh’ keep us grounded.” They remind us that it is we who “need to be
still and know that He is God. We are not God.” Recognizing God’s will
in our life begins with recognizing Him and choosing Him. “You can
never be whole as long as anyone else is responsible for your behavior.
Wholeness comes when you take responsibility for your behavior.”
As Christians that wholeness starts when we “leave our values at the
foot of the cross.” The cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate measure
of God’s love for each of us, yet “the greatest disease we have today
is feeling unloved. We have no clue to how much God loves us. We
don’t know who we are until we are forgiven. We discover our identity
only through God's pardon."
Overcoming guilt and shame and depression begins with seeking God.
That’s why the church of Jesus Christ is so important, because it is
“the fellowship of the broken AND accepted.”
Hiram Johnson is author of Tragic Redemption: Healing the Guilt and Shame,
available from Langmarc Publishing and local book stores. Hiram Johnson
is an ordained United Methodist minister with over a dozen years of
counseling and ministerial experience. He practices as a licensed
mental health therapist at Crossway Counseling Center in Daphne, AL.
