Bridging a Wall of Isolation

Adam and Eve realized they were outside of God's favor after ignoring the boundaries set for them in the Garden. With a strange, new self-consciousness of guilt and shame, they covered their bodies and hid from God. They were now aware that their choices resulted in their loss of freedom and that forgiveness was the way for regaining that freedom.

Appropriate guilt and shame as well as empathy for the offended person creates the will to earnestly push toward forgiveness. If denials and rationalizations are allowed to overrule reality, then a wall of isolation gets constructed that will endanger a relationship.

 

Acknowledgment of an offense doesn't guarantee reconciliation. However, it gives the offender the option to seek forgiveness with hopes for reconciliation. Choosing to forgive or not to forgive is a choice between good and evil, but choosing forgiveness is choosing freedom from the burden of guilt and shame. The Holy Spirit creates in you the desire to seek forgiveness.  

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O Lord, our God, you answered your people; you showed them that you are a God who forgives, even though you punished them for their sins.

~Psalm 99:8 Good News Bible

So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, “I’ll tell the Lord each one of my sins.” Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.

~Psalm 32:5 Contemporary English Version