Jesus offers opportunity to be a whole new person

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: My daughter’s teacher told her she is suffering from a guilt complex. When my daughter denied this, she boldly asked the teacher if this was really her own problem.

I was stunned at my daughter’s boldness, and amazingly, the teacher broke down and sobbed, sharing with her a sense of guilt for bad decisions she had made in life. My daughter is praying that the Lord will help her know what to say to the teacher if she is given an opportunity.

– T.M.

A: Often when people gaze into the mirror, they confront the troubling riddle of their own existence. They quake and tremble at the thought of their inability to cope with life.

One of the great social problems facing the free world today is called “abnormal behavior.” Every year, millions of dollars are spent for research to find out what is wrong with people mentally.

We have lost our bearings. We think that we’ve outgrown God. We have trusted too much in the ultimate progressiveness of man. The trouble is we have excluded God from our life. People today are suffering from mental ills partially because they are being amused to such an extent and are so pleasure-mad that God is being obscured.

Disillusioned, frustrated, confused, and conscience-stricken, people are searching for answers. The truth to these dilemmas is found in Scripture. For decades, psychiatrists have used a different term for sin consciousness. They call it “guilt complex.” To those who cringe under a sense of failure, Jesus Christ offers the opportunity to be a new person through repenting of sin, receiving His forgiveness, and accepting His salvation.

The whole ministry of Christ is punctuated with promises and commands. “Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).

Through prayer and searching the Scripture, the Lord opens a way to minister to those who are silently crying out for truth.