SHAME

     

     Wanna know what's on my heart this morning? Shame. It's such an ugly word and such an ugly concept. Many times shame is the thing that stops us from coming to the Lord. Why? Because it makes us feel unworthy of his love. It makes us feel unworthy of changing. It makes us feel unworthy of a new life, of a new mindset, of forgiveness. And the enemy? Oh he LOVES to use shame. The enemy knows that even though we've stopped our old habits and are walking in God's transforming grace, that we still at least remember our past. Therefore, he can always use shame to keep our heads hanging low. 

     Will you grant me a really quick pity party? Okay so...I woke up this morning feeling shame. The first line of my journal entry today was "Looking back, there isn't even a handful of things that I wouldn't do differently". As I'm on this journey I want so bad to move forward. But then I remember that there are people out there who know things and have things that can completely humiliate me. I can just hear them..."Oh you're a 'Christian' now? Remember when you _____???" That thought terrifies me! How can I really be new if all the old stuff is still there waiting to strike me at any given moment?

     You see, in our way of thinking, something new doesn't have a past. A baby, a car with 0 miles, a pair of stark white high top converses ;)...these things are new. But me? New? With my sinful past? With everything I've done? I'm new? How can that possibly be?

     Here is the good news. Before we come to Christ, we walk in our flesh, think in our flesh, and act in our flesh. But when we come to him our old selves are crucified. [We] are crucified with Christ. It is no longer [we] who live but Christ who lives in [us] Galations 2:20. That's right. We are new because we have literally been BORN...AGAIN. 

     So congratulations, you're dead! You have died and now it is Christ who lives inside of you...he lets you be his dwelling place. Man, that is so beautiful! He makes a home inside of you and is now living through you. The ONLY thing that does not die when we come to Christ is our physical bodies, and I believe that God does this to show us how he takes sinners and makes them righteous. He takes us in our hopeless state and redeems us back to life. He wants us to be living proof of his goodness. He wants all the world to see that he can take us from nothing and bring us everything. 

     So what do we say to our feelings of shame? We head to Romans 8:1 and say that there is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ. If you're feeling shame today, I understand completely. Right now I feel it too. But as we continue to walk with Jesus, let's do our best to remember that he's come to destroy all of that. And if people from your past come to remind you of your past, remember that in Hebrews 8:12, God says he's forgiven your sins and REMEMBERS THEM NO MORE. Please, my love, choose to listen to the creator of the universe over some low life who's coming to bring you down.

I love you always,

Lauren <3