Discover Your True SelfSample

You Are Competent 

We began this week with the theological thesis that the most important thing about us is how we see God, and the second most important thing about us is what comes to mind when we think about ourselves—the mirror in our minds.

If that’s true, and I strongly believe it is, then shame is an enemy whose intent distorts our identities. Among all the fears and feelings that warp our perspectives, shame is particularly devastating because it attacks not our behavior but our identity. Shame causes us to believe we are unworthy of love or acceptance.

When we encounter the gospel and its promise to address our shame, our spirit responds. We’re drawn to freedom. We instinctively know we need someone to rescue us from this debilitating force. In Jesus, we find the powerful antidote to our deepest, most personal wounds.

So, how do you deal with your shame? The good news is next, but facing the truth always precedes being healed by the truth. Taking time to do a little self-analysis regarding how you cope with feelings of shame is necessary. Such reflection may make you feel uncomfortable, but your heavenly Father wants to help you, and that begins with honesty. You have nothing to be ashamed about that is not common to the human condition. You’re not a freak or an oddball.

Allow God’s forgiveness and not your shame to define you. In the Ephesians passage today, Paul itemizes a series of requests that are life-changing for all who believe, and this is my prayer for you. I ask that God would give you those “aha” moments by His Spirit so you may see into those truths about adoption and redemption and realize, Oh, this is how it applies to me and the sin and shame of my past. This spirit of revelation is an unveiling of the truth so that I too would see like never before and know God more personally and intimately.

When the eyes of our hearts are enlightened, our minds begin to know the truth, and our lives start to change. Paul is letting us know that guilt, shame, and every other debilitating condition we experience are futile in the face of the power at work within us. Faith is always rooted in the promises of God, and God’s promises are in His Word.

Your loving, heavenly Father wants to heal you, and He can heal you. Healing begins with honesty— honesty with yourself to identify your shame, call it out, and take it to Him. What shame are you carrying?