What if we lived in a society where shame was viewed as a bridge to freedom rather than something we always have to carry around and hide.
Shame is something we can get stuck in. We did something that we want to hide like betray someone we love or kiss someone we weren’t supposed to. In the moment there’s the thrill or a small sense of relief but after the moment passes there’s a weight. A weight that won’t shake. A weight that feels like its slowly crushing you.
God is a father that loves us through everything. He is with us in this shame, waiting for us to bring it to him. He isn’t a father that wants you to be perfect before him, he wants you to bring the brokenness of you so he can mend you back together. To make a new creation.
But many of us hide the shameful parts of ourselves. Repentance becomes the most beautiful word you can find, it’s admitting that we ourselves can’t do anything about our shame or sin. Unless we put our shame into the light we will never be freed from it.
I think if there was one thing that would surprise us that God would say it’s, “I’m not ashamed of you. And I’m not afraid of you. I want your heart. You think I’m out to change you, to ruin you, to in many ways judge you—all the judgment has already been taken care of, all your sin has already been taken care of, and what I want is for you to know My delight, even in your brokenness.
(The Heart of Man)
True repentance is fully depending on God. It means trusting in His complete power to erase your shame and self-disgust. It is tapping into the greatest power in the universe and believing that it can cleanse you. This power redeems you and gives you the power to no longer stay stuck. That’s how BIG and LOVING our God is.
