How guilt stops the called

John Piper has a great article in Christianity Today out about how the current epidemic of sexual immorality within the church leadership is not the most looming danger for the church at large...a sad mistake most everyone makes. Instead the true danger is the guilt associated with so many Christians struggling with sexual addiction.

"…so many young people are being lost to the cause of Christ's mission because they are not taught how to deal with the guilt of sexual failure. The problem is not just how not to fail. The problem is how to deal with failure so that it doesn't sweep away your whole life into wasted mediocrity with no impact for Christ. The great tragedy is not masturbation or fornication or pornography. The tragedy is that Satan uses guilt from these failures to strip you of every radical dream you ever had or might have. In their place, he gives you a happy, safe, secure, American life of superficial pleasures, until you die in your lakeside rocking chair."

How many of us sit on our dreams because of our pasts? How much of our baggage defines us instead of the forgiveness granted us through Christ?