UnashamedSample

How Quickly We Forget

More than once the children of Israel lost focus of how bad life had been when they had been in bondage—enslaved—and they wanted to turn back to Egypt.
How quickly we forget—when the wilderness feels too dark, too hard, too long. When we’re challenged with the season of uncertainty and the process of being made stronger so we can fight the giants ahead. There are times when we forget how hard shame-filled living is, and we’re tempted to yearn for what was familiar—to go back to our old ways. So we yield to the pressure.

We decide it’s time to open a bottle when an unforeseen disappointment surprises us, rather than call that person who’s willingly committed to helping us stay on course. Or, we answer that call we know we shouldn’t, and say yes to going out with the abusive boyfriend one more time—even when all of the warning lights are flashing on the dashboard of our hearts. Or, we grow tired of the discipline of believing what God’s Word says we are over the lies of mean people who have always said, “You’re just a loser—and you’ll always be a loser.”

No matter how bad our past, it’s always easier to default to our old behaviors than keep forging new ones. So many of us struggle with the same temptations. But there is no drive-through breakthrough. We all must go through the wilderness to get to freedom so we are strong enough to defeat the giants who fuel our shame.

Jesus died to secure our freedom—freedom from sin, freedom from death, freedom to live once again as Adam and Eve lived—in the garden—unashamed, having daily fellowship with our loving Creator and each other. In heaven we will fully enjoy that ultimate freedom. But we don’t have to wait to walk in freedom: Jesus offers us freedom from sin’s slavery now. 

Jesus came not only for us to drop our shame-filled life, but also to lead us into a shame-free life. Free to walk into the fullness of every promise that He has for our lives. Free to be who He made us to be. Free to do all that He created us to do.