Throw Off the Shackles of Shame

Photo by Owen Vangioni on Unsplash

The devil doesn't get to wave our sins before our eyes when God has put them behind His back.

I was praying and asking God to help me and when He revealed this truth to me.

It is throwing off shackles

It is praising with uplifted hands and head

It is giving our burdens to God instead of trying to carry them ourselves

It is confessing and asking for forgiveness

It is embracing who God says that you are

It is trusting God when you do not see the finished ending

It is praying with open hands and heart

It is releasing shame.

"Surely it was for my benefit
that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me
from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins
behind your back." (Isaiah 38:17)

The reality of my sinfulness humbles me as I continually come to God for the forgiveness He graciously covers me with. I am dependent on Him. He is the only one who can cleanse me and purify my heart.

But when God covers me in His perfect forgiveness, he does not see my sin anymore. It is removed. Destroyed. Cast away. Paid for. Washed clean.

I do not need to live in continuous cycles of shame, asking for forgiveness over and over. I should ask for forgiveness. I should also trust God when He declares His forgiveness over me.

If I live in cycles of shame, I let the devil have power over me.

I do not want the devil to have any foothold in my life.

“Since we are not the judge, we can’t pardon ourselves. So, when we feel like we are struggling with forgiveness for ourselves, what’s really happening is a struggle to fully receive and live in the forgiveness of God. The enemy of our souls wants us to live in condemnation that isn’t from God. And he wants us to carry shame so paralyzing that we will not want to personally testify of Jesus’ accomplished work on the cross…Satan will do everything possible to try to keep us from sharing a testimony of the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus.”

-Lysa TerKeurst (From her book Forgiving What You Can’t Forget)

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will He harbor His anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far he has removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:8-12)

The devil doesn't get to wave our sins before our eyes when God has put them behind His back.