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The gaunt, pale young man explained to me that he was dying. He was sure his illness was punishment from God for his sins. We discussed God's forgiveness, but he had resigned himself to the belief that his sins were so terrible God wouldn't forgive him.
The young man told me doctors claimed his illness wasn't a result of a virus, as he thought, but due to his own imagination. He wouldn't admit it, but it seems unresolved feelings of guilt were literally making him sick.
Guilt is the anxiety you experience because you think you've done something wrong. Some people are overwhelmed with guilty feelings even to the point of emotional breakdown. Others seem to feel no guilt at all no matter how despicable their actions.
The things that make us feel guilty are often determined during our childhood. An emotionally unbalanced family can create strong feelings of guilt in one member when the wrong behavior is actually the responsibility of another. This is common in cases involving adult sexual and physical abuse of children. Many times the abused child will develop overwhelming feelings of guilt when the actual guilt belongs to the adult.
Guilty feelings are manipulated by advertisers to get us to buy products. Husbands and wives are made to feel inadequate if they don't buy expensive gifts for their spouse. Moms and dads are led to believe that they're bad parents if they don't get their children the latest toys, fashions or gadgets.
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