Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. (NLT)

Shame is like a heavy weighted vest, a hefty burden to carry on our shoulders. Last week at the gym, my trainer designed a challenging workout that included us wearing weighted vests as we did our training and finished our workout on the stair stepper. After this workout, I left feeling totally wiped out, with tight shoulders and tired arms, thinking, "I'm totally not prepared for this race coming up." As I was driving home, I went down the rabbit-hole of negative beliefs in life: "I'm bad at so many things," "I should just quit while I'm ahead and save myself the embarrassment," "I'm not good enough, or healthy enough to accomplish what I want."  

When I finally invited Christ into my thoughts, I realized there are times I carry the burden of shame around like a weighted vest. I feel the guilt of my past mistakes, and the shame of the choices I’ve made bubbles up to the surface. I let the lies of the enemy take my thoughts captive instead of reminding myself of the choice I made to follow Jesus and who he says I am. As a daughter of Christ, I no longer strain under the envelopment of sin. Forgiveness and acceptance sustained through Christ now flourish within me and act as a foundational component of my life.

Too often, we focus on our past and sins, building barriers of shame and guilt around us. Jesus breaks down barriers in our midst that build up in our path. Barriers to love, kindness, and forgiveness become easier with Jesus. When we ask the Lord for forgiveness that he freely gives and trust that he has covered our sins with the blood of Jesus, we can accept his gift of everlasting joy, full of his glory.

Jesus rewrites the story of shame in our lives through his unconditional love, redemption, and freedom from guilt. Through his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus provides a path for forgiveness. Our renewed identity in him heals, restores, and reminds us of our belonging within his family. The message of redemption provides hope and a way to move forward, leaving past mistakes behind. Despite our imperfections, Jesus continuously illuminates our value and worth; understanding and accepting this absolute love can counteract the heavy weight of shame.  

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Forgiveness is not only something we experience, but something we can seek to show and give to others. Jesus leads by example and demonstrates the importance of forgiveness between others, emphasizing the need to forgive one another as we are forgiven. Matthew 6:14 says, "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you" (NLT). Peter asks Jesus how often we need to give, and Jesus replies, "No, not even seven, but seventy times seven!" (Matthew 18:22, NLT). Although I am terrible at math, his answer leads me to think, "70 x 7 is only 490!" Does this mean I can count down how many times I need to forgive someone? But Jesus calls us into a deeper life that, instead of counting the times, invites us into the challenge of a never-ending way of forgiving others. When we live in community and offer others forgiveness, just as Jesus has forgiven us, we can find acceptance and understanding, breaking the chains of shame in our lives.

It can be difficult to accept forgiveness and shed feelings of guilt and shame. Jesus does not want us to live in the shame of our addictions, temptations, poor choices, pasts, or childhoods, but to break free of the fear, anger, and negative, self-critical thoughts that hyper-focus on our flaws. Today, what would it look like to take the weighted vest of shame off and embrace that we are beautifully and wonderfully made, undeserving yet showered with the unconditional love and forgiveness of Christ?    

I challenge you to take the next step in your journey, whether diving into community for support, showing forgiveness to others who have wronged you, or meditating on the unconditional love and acceptance that Jesus poured out for us on the cross. Whatever this looks like for you today, know that you are loved, forgiven, redeemed, and set free by Jesus!

Jesus, we bring you the heavy feelings of guilt and shame and lay this weight at your feet. We surrender all to you, finding peace in knowing that you have washed away the weight of our pasts by the blood of Jesus. Your never-ending love blankets us from our scars of the past, guards our hearts, and shields our minds from the lies and shame the enemy seeks to imprison us with. Remind us that our identity is not rooted in our dead and gone pasts, but who we are as children renewed by your Word. Amen!