Forgiven & Healed

Image by Rosh PR via Flickr

If I am guilty—woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in my affliction...Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
Job 10:15 Isaiah 54:4

“He died to take away all our guilt and shame”, are words we hear often in our communion service. This morning I was encouraged to stop and think about this amazing truth. We may find it relatively easy to confess the guilt of our wrongdoing and receive forgiveness, with the grace to put our sins behind us, but the shame that we often carry can silently sit in the bottom of our souls, clinging to us and affecting every breathing moment. Our sins speak to us of what we have done, whereas our shame changes the way we think about ourselves, the result of our own sin or the sin committed against us, perhaps through simple putdowns from the past or more serious abuses.

Last night in our service, we were asked, “what does the Kingdom of God mean to you?” For me, it is ultimately about freedom. I believe that Jesus came to set me free to be who He created me to be. And yet again I feel the Spirit showing me how I am bound, even by that shame that holds me back. But the light of His Spirit shines into our darkness that we might see and bring all to the cross where all our guilt and shame will ultimately be forgiven and healed.