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God Is Not Ashamed of You
By Rick Warren

“Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he isn’t ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” (Hebrews 2:11 CEV)

Did you know that Jesus calls you his sister or his brother? That’s a pretty amazing thing.

Jesus isn’t ashamed to call you his brother or sister, no matter how messed up your life is, because you belong to God’s family.

As a member of the family of God, your sin doesn’t define you anymore.

It’s the difference between Alcoholics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery. Alcoholics Anonymous is a very good program. But I think Celebrate Recovery, which was started at Saddleback Church, is a whole lot better for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it’s Christ-centered, so it stresses that your sin does not define you.

If you were to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, you would stand up and say, “Hi, my name is Rick, and I’m an alcoholic,” and you would say it for the rest of your life. You let your sin define you.

In Celebrate Recovery, people stand up and say, “Hi, my name is Rick. I’m a child of God who struggles with alcohol.” See the difference?

Your identity is not your sin. That’s why Jesus is not ashamed of you, because once you’re in the family, you’re treated like family! You may be a little weird, but you’re in the family. You will have sin in your life, but you’re in the family.

The world doesn’t want you to know what God made you to be, but by belonging to God’s family, you will learn your true identity. Being accepted by God and belonging to a spiritual family will give you power and confidence to live God’s purpose for your life.

Talk It Over

How has the feeling of shame kept you from living your purpose? How do you respond to the truth that Jesus isn’t ashamed to call you his brother or sister?

Once you learn your true identity, what do you think God wants you to do?

How can you help others move past their shame and into the family of God?