THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION
Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
I've very rarely ever been checked by a game warden when I've been hunting or fishing. I've known several game wardens and they've known me well enough that even when they saw me they knew I wasn't doing anything illegal.
Even though I had nothing to hide and should have had no fear, there is always the quick feeling of guilt and shame when I saw a warden. It's like when you are driving down the highway and see a police car. Even if you are going the speed limit you look to check your speed and offen tap the brakes... we have a guilt complex even when we don't need to. We hide our guilt and shame, not wanting others to know that we have it. We push it down... because we feel guilty about feeling guilty. Once we start into that cycle it is hard to break
Oh how this can relate to our daily lives. Along the road of our lives we have sins that we've buried deep under ground, thinking that we will never exposed them again; we will never allow anyone else to know. It is our little secret. But this guilt, shame and hiding only destroys our joy in life.
Dictionary.com defines shame as "the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another."
We avoid talking about shame because it is a messy situation. It's an embarrassment that we don't want anyone to know about.
We see the earliest account of shame in Genesis 3, immediately after Adam and Eve's first sin in the garden. Prior to their sin, Scripture tells us they were both naked and unashamed. One chapter later they are binding fig leaves together and playing a game of hide-and-seek with God. With that one forbidden bite of fruit came our first bitter taste of shame.
Like Adam and Eve we do our best to hide our shame. We cover it up with modern day fig leaves or bury it deep and pour concrete over it. It would be so painful if the truth was known by others... At least that is what we believe.
If we are a child of God we need to read and reread the Romans 8:1 passage...
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Christ died to remove all guilt and shame. If we carry the shame of past sins with us then we have not given them over to Him... What we are really saying is that "Christ's life, death and resurrection was not sufficient to take away my sins, I'm going to hold these specific sins and I'll take care of them myself."
That is not the truth, it's a lie from Satan... Satan wants us to hide in shame... If he can make us do that we are not out sharing what Christ did for us. That's what shame does to the Christian... It immobilizes us and our testimony to the world is buried with our shame.
When shame attacks, hold tight to Romans 8:1 and immediately pray that our Heavenly Father takes your shame and immediately removes it. Don't allow Satan to win.
Chris Tomlin sang AMAZING GRACE - MY CHAINS ARE GONE, there is a main line that says,
"My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace"
God's love is unending and His grace is amazing. Remember your chains that bound you to past shame have been removed by Christ's death and resurrection. You are now free to live without shame. He took it all.
THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION
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