Daily Nuggets of Grace Part 2 Unashamed!Sample

The Way Out of Shame

The problem with shame is that there is no way out. Or so it seems. We try to hide it, but it reappears. We try to forget it, but someone brings it up again. We try to make up for it, but our efforts prove unable to cancel it out. Our regrets, failures, and hurts continue to mock us. If only someone could lift us out of shame.

Someone can. Someone did.

The Source and Perfector of our faith, the Author and the Finisher, the One who began our salvation and the One who brings it to completion – He is the One who lifts us out of our shame.

If only we would do what Hebrews 2 teaches—fix our eyes on Jesus and turn our gaze away from past failures and current inadequacies. Looking unto Him means looking away from the shame that grips us and the shame we hold tightly.

Where we direct our vision is a choice we make.

Fix your eyes on your true identity, your new being in Christ, not the source of shame.

I once stepped into a sinkhole in the middle of a cedar swamp. Instantly, I found myself stuck waist-deep in mud. I instinctively tried to get out, but the more I flailed around, the dirtier I got. There was nothing solid to grab onto. A moment later, I looked up. My dad was there, offering a strong hand to pull me out of the mud.

This is what Jesus did. At the cross, He canceled our shame. He despised and scorned it because His mind was focused on something more significant. His eyes were focused on the joy before Him, not the shame of the cross. He knew the throne at the right hand of God awaited Him.

Ephesians 2:6 says Jesus offers you a seat on that same throne. According to God's truth, the source of your shame is gone, eliminated at the cross. You are free.

Today Jesus is reaching His hand out to you. He invites you to throw off the shame that hinders you. He provides you with a way out. Will you take it?

Reflect and Respond

If you received forgiveness from Jesus and allowed Him to take away your sin, why have you continued to hold onto shame? What makes you hesitate to release your shame to Jesus as well?

Pray

Holy Spirit, I want to experience all You intend for me. Show me why I hesitate to release my shame to Jesus. (Now, take a few minutes to listen to what the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.) I turn away from these things that make me hold onto my shame so I can walk in the freedom Jesus offers me. Amen.