Guilty…
is a word many are labeled with, even if it isn’t true. It can begin at a young age. Someone does something wrong and blames it on a younger (or older sibling). In school a “scapegoat” can be chosen to bear the blame. The person standing before the judge dreads that word. Once you have the label, it is difficult to change it. Many have heard it who truly are guilty. And a staggering amount of people have heard it unjustly. That is hard to wrap our minds around since we think that the court system is out to find the truth. It doesn’t take long to be part of the system to realize there are a lot of other things going on besides finding the truth.

Guilty
The truth is, we are all guilty. We have all done things that are wrong. We tend to put degrees on what is acceptable and what is not. Oh, there are things most everyone considers bad, such as murder. There are other things people accept as not so bad, even justify as almost necessary. These might include lying to not hurt feelings, or who knows what reason.

Guilty
In God’s eyes, we are all guilty. We have all sinned. Nothing we can do can erase that. But the guilt of it has been paid for with the blood of Jesus. The same blood that forgives the murderer forgives the liar as well. Without that forgiveness, punishment awaits them both. When we ask Jesus to forgive our sins and accept Him into our lives, a new word replaces guilty… it is

Forgiven
Not only does it replace it, it washes it from our lives. We no longer have whatever we were guilty of standing between us and God. Forgiven can be your new word…. The benefits of it are amazing. Why not try it.