For 50+ years, Josh McDowell Ministry has been leading seekers into a deeper knowledge of God’s truth and power. We offer you our accumulated knowledge and research to help you find truth and encouragement to live a healthy and whole life in Christ.
God Doesn’t Shame Us
Satan plants seeds in our mind and heart, waters them, and watches to see if they take root as shame. If they do, it’s because we make this simple mistake: we choose to listen to him, rather than keeping our ears tuned to God’s promises.
Jesus repeatedly tells us to rebuke the lies of the devil, because He knows that shame will stall EVERYTHING good in our life: stall our accepting God’s forgiveness, stall our forgiving ourselves, and stall us from walking in freedom.
Listen up! Jesus did NOT tell people how rotten they were.
Rather, He spoke encouragement over them to show them God’s perspective. What did Jesus tell the despised tax collector watching Him from the sycamore tree? “Dude, come down! I want to have dinner with YOU at your place!” What did He say to social outcasts …. the woman caught in adultery … the woman who publicly wiped the dirt from His feet with her tears? Not a SINGLE word of judgment or shame.
God “gets” our junk. He hates the pain we experience because of our junk. He wants to take our junk so we live free of the handcuffs of shame. We just have to CHOOSE to take that first step.
Freedom From Shame
Friend, TRUST God’s goodness and love enough to hand Him your junk.
Note that’s GOD’s goodness; not YOUR goodness. Your “goodness” won’t get you very far. But that’s the point: we can let go of trying to be clean and “good” and spotless before we humbly approach God. He knows we’ll never be perfect — and He’s okay with that.
Guess what? God promises to not only LOVINGLY FORGIVE the junk we turn over to Him, but to also instantly FORGET it was ever there. Wow!
It’s like putting our trash in the bins at the curb and watching the trash collectors haul it away. We don’t run after that bagged trash, right? We are HAPPY that the collectors haul the stinky bags out of our space. Imagine holding on to your trash and trying to live amid the smells and rodents you’d attract.
Let’s likewise be quick to unload our shame. It may FEEL like our shame is bigger than God’s grace, but that’s because we attempt to measure God’s infinite love against the NARROW spectrum of human love. But that’s like comparing an ant’s body size to your much bigger one.
Think on that: a love so deep and wide and vast that we can’t mentally grasp it. Especially the part about Him FREELY offering it to us with NO strings attached. God doesn’t demand groveling. Or works. Or bribes. Only our confession and trust.
God’s arms are ALREADY open wide to embrace and comfort you, just like the father in the Bible story of the Prodigal Son. Shame is NOT who you are. So don’t let shame keep you from racing into His loving arms.
CLAIM the freedom you are PROMISED because Christ willingly died FOR YOU on the cross to forgive all your sins.
Next Steps
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