I understood the good news in a new way in 2015, where I heard that Jesus not only wanted to remove all my sins, but also all my shame! That was life changing for me. So life changing, in fact, that I knew I never wanted to live my life the same again.
Our squad mentor currently has us reading a book called “The 3D Gospel” as a squad. It’s a skinny little book that offers a lot of insight into how we respond to sin. Humanity responds to sin in three ways, shame, fear, and guilt.
Yesterday, I gave a sermon on shame to high schoolers on what it means, and how God removed all my shame from me.
He has, but have I truly accepted it? Is it true that when Jesus went to the cross, he restored our full identity in Him as sons and daughters? Meaning, every “I am” statement that puts an identity on you that doesn’t fall in line with the reality that you were made in the image of God is actually a lie and is still very much a part of the curse, not the gospel.
The good news is that He came to set us free from all shame and those lies (false identities) that once defined us and he actually gives us back the identity we had from the beginning, that we were “made in His image”.
“I am not enough”. That’s an identity statement. Are you really not enough? If we examine that statement next to the victory Jesus paid on the cross when he took on our shame and replaced it with honor, does it stand?
Every ounce of shame we feel, we get to submit it to Jesus and allow Him to take it and tell us who we really are.
There are still moments when I feel like “I am not good enough”. But, in those moments, I actually get to choose to take that belief and test it against Gods word. And then I get to repent and continue walking with the Father, each day looking more and more like him.
That’s cool. And, that’s transformative.
