{"id":26214,"date":"2026-01-08T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T13:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214"},"modified":"2025-12-28T08:49:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T13:49:43","slug":"guilt-driven-time-to-let-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2026\/01\/guilt-driven-time-to-let-go.html","title":{"rendered":"Guilt Driven? Time To Let Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Emily wakes up every morning replaying a mistake she made years ago. She apologized. She repented. She even made amends where she could. Yet she still feels the weight of it pressing on her chest, shaping her decisions, her confidence, and her joy. Though she believes in Christ, guilt, not grace, has quietly become the engine driving her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guilt can be a driving force that steals our peace and causes us to live with anxiety. It doesn\u2019t lead to the abundant life Christ offers. Hanging on to guilt is powerful and destructive. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, many people are driven by things they regret from their past. In my clinical practice, this showed up often. Guilt can linger for years, fueled by shame and self-condemnation. When we hang on to guilt, which is not biblical, we allow our past to control our present and future. Do you want guilt to be a driving force in your life? <\/span><\/p>\n

To be clear, guilt itself is not always wrong. Guilt is appropriate when you hurt someone or do something morally or legally wrong. Healthy guilt alerts us that something is off and calls us to repentance. But God never intended for us to live in a perpetual state of guilt.<\/span><\/p>\n

The biblical response to guilt is simple but profound: recognize the wrong, repent, apologize, make amends where possible, and then move on. Guilt can motivate change; shame cannot. Shame only traps us.<\/span><\/p>\n

This distinction matters. Guilt says,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI did something bad.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>Shame says,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI am bad.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>In Christ, there is no shame attached to your identity. Scripture makes this clear. In the beginning of time, Adam and Eve sinned but God covered their shame. Why? Shame has no redemptive purpose. It is not a characteristic of God. <\/span><\/p>\n

When guilt and shame linger, they keep us stuck in a cycle of self-punishment. We may feel we need to \u201cpay\u201d longer or suffer more to make up for what we did. But the truth is, Christ already paid the full price on the cross. His sacrifice covers your sin completely. Grace allows you to stop rehearsing your failure and start fresh.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Christian life, guilt should point us toward repentance, but confession leads us into forgiveness and freedom. Once forgiven, guilt should no longer drive our behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider biblical examples. Moses could have allowed guilt over killing an Egyptian to define his life, but if he had, then he would never have led God\u2019s people out of slavery. Gideon could have remained paralyzed by guilt over his fear and weakness. Instead, by God\u2019s grace, he became a courageous leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wallowing in guilt takes you nowhere and feels miserable. You cannot go back and undo the past. But if you have confessed your sin, you are forgiven and cleared. Allow God\u2019s grace, not guilt, to drive your life forward into all that He has for you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u00a0Emily wakes up every morning replaying a mistake she made years ago. She apologized. She repented. She even made amends where she could. Yet she still feels the weight of it pressing on her chest, shaping her decisions, her confidence, and her joy. Though she believes in Christ, guilt, not grace, has quietly become…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[916],"tags":[123,9576,9582,9579,3094,2729],"class_list":["post-26214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-relationship","tag-guilt","tag-guilt-ridden","tag-let-go-of-guilt","tag-past-sins","tag-regret","tag-shame"],"yoast_head":"\nGuilt Driven? Time To Let Go<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wallowing in guilt takes you nowhere and feels miserable. You cannot go back and undo the past.But you can let go and move forward.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guilt Driven? Time To Let Go\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wallowing in guilt takes you nowhere and feels miserable. You cannot go back and undo the past.But you can let go and move forward.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-08T13:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-28T13:49:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/12\/harassment-6843865_1280.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Guilt Driven? Time To Let Go","description":"Wallowing in guilt takes you nowhere and feels miserable. You cannot go back and undo the past.But you can let go and move forward.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Guilt Driven? Time To Let Go","og_description":"Wallowing in guilt takes you nowhere and feels miserable. You cannot go back and undo the past.But you can let go and move forward.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2026-01-08T13:00:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-28T13:49:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/12\/harassment-6843865_1280.png"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214","name":"Guilt Driven? Time To Let Go","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/12\/harassment-6843865_1280.png","datePublished":"2026-01-08T13:00:15+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-28T13:49:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"description":"Wallowing in guilt takes you nowhere and feels miserable. You cannot go back and undo the past.But you can let go and move forward.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/12\/harassment-6843865_1280.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/12\/harassment-6843865_1280.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=26214#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Guilt Driven? Time To Let Go"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26226,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26214\/revisions\/26226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}