My sparkling water can promises “0-calorie 0-sweetener 0-sodium = Innocent!”

I suspect the copywriter believes guilt to be a motivator of mine. If so, I definitely don’t need it in my canned drink.

I confess guilt grabs me in sugary or high-calorie forays. Force me to consume a full-on cherry coke and I’d mope for days. Probably watch online church a couple times. Maybe even seek out a rosary. And I’m not even Catholic.

Prophetic that in today’s guilt-charged, no-forgiveness-online atmosphere Innocent! might be an incentive to buy.

I wonder if our culture’s current obsession with certain societal sins is a way to bring guilt into the conversation without having to deal with the guilt of our hearts.

We have no problem finding people guilty for sins we feel need addressing.

We have every problem being found guilty for sins others feel we need to address. Sins originating from our selfish hearts wanting our self-interest protected.

True guilt leads me to hide the trappings and protect my heart. Self-interest directs me to bury the coke can in the trash so I can forget I slipped. I refuse to discuss my role in the firing or divorce.

The pain too raw to touch. Our responsibility too heavy to bear.

I can earn my penance by repenting of whatever the world’s current top 5 are. Such guilt trips allow me to detour around the baseline problem underlying those top 5.

Surprisingly Jesus came for the times you feel guilty over the cherry coke. But He also came for the times you don’t feel guilty over the divorce but should. And the times you didn’t even let guilt in the door because too much self-centeredness already filled the room.

Your ongoing need to make excuses or make amends all reveal a need to be innocent. Why is that?

Perhaps it’s because guilt is a fundamental issue everyone needs to deal with. It’s also the fundamental reason Jesus exists.