Compassion: 30 Days of HeartworkSample

Letting Go of Guilt

HEART //

Today we’re going to look at letting go of shame over past mistakes, which is necessary in moving toward the free life where we can spend ourselves on behalf of others. When we are weighed down by our messy or painful past, often we are building up walls to hide or protect ourselves. Whether we realize it or not, we are allowing our past to determine how we are living in the present. God’s desire is not to shun us, but to heal us. He cannot strengthen and sustain us from a distance. We have to let Him come close. By building these walls, we are keeping the very Life we need from coming in. 

The thing about shame is it makes us feel like we’re not good enough or worthy enough to be used by God. Have you ever felt like you can’t be used by God because you’re not “good enough”?

Professor and author Brené Brown explains in her book “Daring Greatly” that there is a major problem with “scarcity” in our culture today. Scarcity is the underlying feeling that there is never enough (money or success, but also love, security or peace), which leads us to believe the lie that “I am not enough.” It’s what drives us to perfectionism. It’s what reminds us of shame from our pasts and causes us to strive to be more, do more and have more. She says that overcoming these driving forces in our lives “takes awareness, commitment, and work ... every single day. The larger culture is always applying pressure, and unless we’re willing to push back and fight for what we believe in, the default becomes a state of scarcity.” 

We have to be aware of the pitfalls of our culture, and we have to be committed to fighting against the default of believing those lies. The truth is, God’s love is enough to cover all of our pain and all of our past and future failures. Because we are beloved children of God, we are worthy of this grace. If we can tear down that wall of “never enough,” we will see that God is right there waiting. He is for us, not against us. There is no need to prove that we are worthy of love or to protect ourselves from failure. We will all fail sometimes. Even in learning through those failures, He will make us strong and He will be our fortress. 

There is enough love. There is plenty of space at the family table of God. There is enough forgiveness for each of our mistakes. There is more than enough healing for anything we have walked through. 

WORK //

Our prayer is that God will reveal to you any walls that need to be torn down in your heart, that you will let go of fear and allow the Lord to come in to those areas of your life ─ to free you, to heal you, and out of that healthy place, for you to jump into new depths of life in the Kingdom. 

Meditate on these things. ... God is strong, good, and wise. He knows more than we do. He is enough. And He says we are loved, forgiven and covered by grace. Ask Him to download these truths into your heart and replace any feelings of guilt and shame with the truth that you are enough in Him. 

Write in your journal a few notes on the areas of your life where you feel inadequate, ashamed or worthless. Pray that God will begin to show you how His mercy and grace make you more than enough.