Shame is a prison, as cruel as a grave.
Shame is paralyzing. Shame is painful to your core. Shame is powerful, it has the ability to drive us to make poor decisions. Shame is crushing to our spirit. It imprisons us to our past, barring us from a future in freedom thru grace.
So many of us have been in prison. For some of us, we were literally in a brick-and-mortar jail. Given an adult “time out” from life for not following the law. For others, our prison has been the burden of past mistakes that, even years later, haunt us each and every day. They affect our decision making because we feel unworthy of happiness, goodness and peace. We are imprisoned by our cycle of thoughts that always bring us back to those shameful decisions. We have lived life for so long in this prison cell that being “free” does not even cross our minds.
Shame has deep roots. Roots in childhood trauma, roots in mistakes we have made, people we have hurt, people that have hurt us. We can feel unforgivable, unfixable and unlovable all because of shame.
The enemy knows that keeping us in a prison of shame will destroy us. It will cause us to lose hope for our future, make poor decisions and not see the power of Grace through Jesus’s death on the cross. But there is such great news – we do not have to live like this. We can have hope, and joy and excitement about our future. There is NOTHING too unforgivable for our God. Nothing too shameful. No one too broken. God wants us to live a life of freedom. Freedom from the guilt and shame of our past, freedom from worry and anxiety, freedom from hopelessness- Freedom in the grace that was granted through Jesus’s death on the cross. If we will accept Jesus as our Savior, admit we are a sinner and ask for forgiveness and ask him to come into our hearts- we are made new. He offers us a grace that is greater than all of our sins. When we ask for forgiveness, He is faithful to forgive, and He forgets. He erases the wrong. We need to accept that forgiveness and do the same.
The hope that comes thru salvation is a beautiful thing. It restores us. It frees us. It gives us a hope for the future. The grave was no match for Jesus. Shame is no match for our God. So, whatever the baggage is that you have been dragging around- whatever the shame is that you have let keep you in your cell, it is time to let Jesus unlock that door. Christ is Love and Love is your weapon to take down the giants in your life. He loves you so much that he bought and paid for your freedom with His blood on the cross. It is time to walk out of that prison and live in the freedom he died for you to have.
Romans 10:11 Psalm 103:12 Isaiah 50:7 Romans 8:1
