Have you ever felt ashamed? I have; there have been times when feeling ashamed was right and appropriate because of things I have said and done. However, there is nothing more toxic to our walk with Christ than to allow our shame to separate us from our Savior. If this resonates with you at all, please prayerfully consider these words.
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.” . . . And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” (Hebrews 2:11-13)
Regardless of what you have done, Jesus is not only not ashamed of you, He is not ashamed to call you His brother!
Shame and guilt are both associated with our sin, but they are not the same thing. Guilt is acknowledging our sinful wrongdoing. Shame is an intense feeling of disgrace that makes you want to disappear off the face of this earth. Feeling shame is participating in the proverbial “pity-party.”
When shame drives you deeper into yourself it is a bad thing, an ungodly thing. On the other hand, when guilt drives you to your Savior, it is a good thing. It is participating in the process of being convicted by the Holy Spirit, who will carry you to the cross for cleansing.
The gospel is the solution for our shame—all of our shame—on those occasions when we feel shame because of something we have done and when we are shamed by another. Only the Gospel can release us from shame’s paralyzing power and compel us to cry out to Jesus. We know we fall short of Scripture’s mark time and time again. But in spite of our every shameful, self-absorbed, and sinful thought, deed, and desire—and Jesus knows them all (see Psalm 139:4; John 2:25)—He is not ashamed of us.
Remember, Jesus took our shame and nailed it to that dirty tree—along with every sin past, present, and still to come. May this truth both fill us and free us to bring our shame to our Savior to receive His shameless love . . . moment by moment.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 