Feeling bad about something can be a vital sign of a healthy conscience. A few days ago I had to drop off documents at our local Home Affairs office.
There were queues all over. Just my lucky day, there was no one in the office I needed to go to. After I was served, I walked out of the office to be met by glares.
Surprised I asked, “Is this queue for this office?” The reply was an angry “Yes”.
I had pushed in. I apologised and dashed for the exit. I felt sick to my stomach. All my sermons, all my articles – my entire reputation was dashed. I felt physically sick. Later, as I came to terms with what had happened, I realised the importance of the ability to feel guilty.
Many people in our society have lost the ability to feel guilty about things.
People lie and don’t experience guilt, people cheat on their partners and have no remorse, people steal and don’t feel guilt.
Suddenly I realised if you do wrong things often enough, you lose the ability of experiencing guilt.
The Bible speaks about “a seared conscience”.
So if you still experience guilt, it means you are healthy. If you don’t feel guilt, you must be worried.
