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*stops lurking and starts talking*

This is such a great discussion! And @daeus-lamb thanks for sharing about that dream. I love how dreams can give us true emotional reactions to situations we’ve never been in. That reaction makes sense and rings true, and I never would have thought of it. I shall ponder it.

@kate – Congrats on your new baby sister! How fun! Hope you catch up on sleep soon, and I’m impressed how well your brain works despite low sleep 😉

Personally, I see guilt everywhere in books–the cheesy kind as afore-mentioned. Often it’s false guilt, or totally unresolved. It seems like the protagonist often does something they believe is wrong (whether it is or not), and spends 1/3 to 1/2 of the book beating themselves up about it. Then the guilt fades from the picture, or the protagonist does something good that seems to outweigh the bad (in their mind) and viola! Guilt is “resolved.” It just disappears without repentance.

I’ve thought about guilt in writing quite a bit. I love focusing my writing on Gospel themes, and so guilt plays a huge roll in people coming to understand their need for a Savior. It’s a big issue for the protagonist of my first book.

Why do some feel guilt and others don’t? I think it has to do with tenderness of conscience, or heart. It seems that, Biblically, someone who is “hard-hearted” has become insensitive to their conscience and unwilling to see their own sin. Thus they would not feel the guilt of someone more sensitive to conscience. Also, I think that hardness of heart comes from ignoring conscience. The more a person ignores it, the harder the heart becomes, or the more “seared” the conscience.

Here are some real life thoughts, in case this is helpful . . . consider inmates. I’ve worked with some in the past and found out that officers in a prison, when getting an inmate ready to be released, can often predict whether that inmate will return to prison (recidivism). Recidivism happens often, and it seems to mostly occur with those who refuse to admit their guilt. Some justify their actions: “I only did it because she provoked me!” Others simply don’t see it as wrong: “People are gonna shoot up anyway, it shouldn’t be against the law,” or, “It’s my body, nobody has the right to tell me what to do with it!”

I still remember this one guy who ruthlessly beat up a fellow inmate. When I saw him later, we talked a bit and I told him, “Do me a favor? Don’t beat up anybody else.”
He hardly missed a beat before saying something like, “I know I’ve sinned against a Holy God, and I’ll have to answer for my actions someday.” (He knew I was “religious”)
I have the feeling there was no sincerity there. His tone said as much, and earlier he’d complained fiercely about getting pepper-sprayed (as if that wasn’t his fault). His statement seemed to be nothing but a feigned measure of repentance because there was no denying what he did.

Sometimes I think true, heart-deep repentance can only come when the Holy Spirit convicts, because He even convicts the world (John 16:8). I love this verse: Romans 2:4 (NASB) “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

Sometimes it’s easy for me to think that condemning someone for their sin is the way to get them to repent, but it seems that kindness is the catalyst for repentance, not a pointed finger. When characters in our stories are faced with guilt, what is it that leads them to true repentance and resolution? Perhaps it should be kindness and grace 🙂