Guilty Pleasure?

Lately I’ve been taking up a serious battle against guilt. Guilt has been following me my whole life in a twisted kind of way. My new antidote against feelings of guilt is asking myself: Are you having any fun? This is my new motto in life: Have fun!

Through my life I’ve been feeling guilty about a lot of things, like sitting down, relaxing, having fun, not being useful or productive etc. I started analyzing the core belief behind this behavior and for me it has to do with feelings of unworthiness and lack of value, like I have to perform to be worthy. I’m more of a “human doing” than a “human being”. I think a lot of us are suffering from this same condition, at least in our western society. Being exhausted has become a status symbol we brag about. Feelings of stress seem to be more accepted than being rested. It’s amazing how the enemy of our soul can twist and pervert the good things our good Lord has created and make us feel bad about them. We talk about “guilty pleasures” like we’re supposed to feel bad for feeling good. 

  “Discipline your children, and they will give you peace;

    they will bring you the pleasure you desire.” Proverbs 29:17

The word for pleasure in this verse is Maadan in Hebrew. It means delicacy, luxurious food, indulgence and it’s derived from the word Eden. That was God’s original intent for humanity! To enjoy life! Pleasure, delight, beauty, bliss, abundance, like in the garden of Eden. A safe place. That is the original state of human innocence and the ultimate goal of restoration and redemption of humankind. A place of fertility and growth – a garden where we’re walking in the presence of God, an effortless evening stroll in the cool of the day. His original intent for us is abundance, overflow, luxurious living – not just barely scraping by, eating crumbs from under the table. He offers a place for me at the table, as part of the family, a resting place for me in His luxurious love (Psalm 23:2 TPT). He wants to free us from our poverty mentality and give us kingdom mentality. That is not a selfish way of living. Quite the opposite! When we are indulging ourselves in the goodness of God we can finally be of much better use for this starving world. A world starving for His goodness and kindness. 

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”. Psalm 37:4