You Guilty Dog!

By Dawn Wilson –

A funny YouTube video, “Which is the Guilty Dog?”, is a priceless example of the guilt response. The video features three adorable dogs responding to the question, “Who did this mess?”

The first time the question is asked, Guilty Dog’s companions turn their heads and look at him. They have no trouble ratting him out! “He’s the guilty one, Mom. Just look at him!”

Guilty Dog squints his eyes.

Then the lady in the video addresses each dog individually. “Cody, did you make this mess? Murphy, did you make this mess? Maggie, did you make this mess?”

Guilty Dog cringes.

“Somebody made it,” the lady says. “Who made it? Who made this mess?”

Overwhelmed, Guilty Dog cowers and leaves the room in shame.

How like humans when we face the sinful messes in our lives. We cringe and want to hide.

I saw that response in my young sons. Adults learn to disguise their guilt – to cover up. But children … not so much. I remember one son, standing before me with chocolate fudge frosting over his top lip. I asked, “Did you eat a cupcake?”

“No, Mom,” he said. I stared him down, stifling a chuckle, until he confessed.

My husband’s family tells a story, passed down as part of their family heritage. Bob and his three siblings faced tough interrogation:

Mom Wilson asked, “Who stole the orange slices?” No one confessed. They blamed each other – even little Jimmy who could barely walk! No one will admit to the “crime” this side of heaven.

As a teenager, I tried to cast blame on others – “Look what he did, God. He’s worse than me!” My sin-hiding skills improved and I thought myself quite righteous.

Yet scriptures I’d heard or memorized haunted me, especially, “All have sinned” and “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23; 6:23 NIV). I recalled that sin brings separation from God (Isaiah 59:2), self-righteousness equals filth in God’s sight (Isaiah 64:6) and good works will never please God (Ephesians 2:9).

I was so proud. I would find a better way to hide sin and be a “good girl.” But God’s Spirit kept bringing sinful attitudes and actions to mind. And Satan piled on too, not knowing he played into God’s plan to redeem me. “You are scum,” the enemy said. “You’re worthless!”

At age 21, while serving as a singer in a revival ministry, I heard the evangelist read these words: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23 NIV). Another version says, “lawbreakers,” and I argued with God. “I’m not a lawbreaker. I’ve never had one traffic ticket; I just speed a little,” I said. “I never cheated on a test. Well, almost never. And I love everyone … except her.”

One Tuesday as I sang “Do You Know My Jesus?” in a Christian high school, I couldn’t shake those words, “I never knew you.” I knew a lot about God, but I didn’t know Him in a personal relationship. I was trying to save myself, but I desperately needed a Savior to change my heart.

I left the microphone in the middle of the song and wept my way to the prayer room—a turning point in my life. God began a work of transformation. Now, when the enemy comes to accuse me, I point to my Savior and say, “Take it up with Jesus. He took my sin and guilt.”

Sweet freedom. This Guilty Dog is righteous and justified in Christ (Romans 3:19-26).