Day 4: Today’s lie: You should be ashamed.

There isn’t a person alive who hasn’t felt ashamed of themselves or guilt over something they’ve done. It’s one of the most difficult lies to overcome but there is hope. When you boil it down, feeling shame is a byproduct of not feeling the freedom that comes from forgiveness and more specifically, not forgiving ourselves. God has already forgiven us. That’s why Jesus died for us! The next and most difficult step is forgiving ourselves. When we focus on what we’ve done wrong instead of learning from our mistakes, forgiving ourselves, and moving on, we are taking time and focus away from growing in our relationship with God. When we forgive, we are following in God’s steps and our greatest desire needs to be to have a heart like God’s heart. Grace is available to all of us. Romans 6:14 NIV says, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” 

Forgiving ourselves is really easy to say, but very difficult to put into practice. When we pray for God’s strength, fill ourselves up with truth from His word regarding forgiveness and grace, and actively make the choice to forgive ourselves every day, it is possible to find the freedom that comes from forgiveness. Hebrews 4:16 NIV says, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” We are allowed and encourage to come to God in our weakness. We are encouraged to invite Him into our shame and ask for the strength to overcome it.