Too many times we think shame is a form of humility, a sign of repentance. In reality, a person can experience deep remorse without yielding to a life of shame. Only when we see people with their heads hung low are we willing to believe they have truly repented of their wrong. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If people had actually repented, they would hold their head high and reclaim their identity in Jesus.

We want people who have failed to live in shame as proof that they are aware of their sin. And that is exactly what shame is. Shame is a negative emotion that controls our life by keeping us in constant awareness of our sin. Living in awareness of sin is what the law does for us. This is not, however, the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. He is here to make us aware of the fact that we are NOW righteous in Jesus. No matter what our past is, or how recent it is, we can rise above it and live the quality of life that Jesus promised!

Shame keeps us in the cycle. It keeps us connected to the sins of the past. It ensures that we will commit those sins again. It insists that we define our life by our personal failures. It is an emotional connection with everything from which Jesus died to free us. It not only says, “This is what you have done,” but it also says, “This is who you are; this is who you will always be.”

Few things are more destructive than shame. Shame robs you of the sense of dignity and worth. It paralyzes you in the past. 

When we sin, it is essential that we own that sin, that we acknowledge it. First John tells us to confess our sin. The word ’ confess ’ simply means to ” say the same thing. ” I must say the same thing about my sin that God says. He says that sin has no power over me. He says that I have a new nature. He says that I am righteous; therefore, I have no excuse for sin. After I confess my sin, I must then walk in the light. Walking in the light, or the truth, begins by not focusing on what I have done wrong but by acknowledging the same thing God says about it.

Acknowledge that guilt and shame ARE NOT something you must live with as payment for your wrong. Instead, acknowledge that Jesus death was the payment for your wrong. Say, “I believe in the blood of Jesus more than I believe in my sacrifices. I am righteous through Jesus. I will not live in the past. I will live a new, powerful life of peace and godliness. I will yield to the righteousness that is in me through Jesus.”

NEVER STOP ACKNOWLEDGING ALL THE GOOD THINGS THAT ARE IN YOU THROUGH JESUS. 

It is your connection to righteousness and wholeness.