A missionary friend recently sent a letter sharing the story of a woman she shared the gospel with. This woman believed she didn’t deserve God’s love and grace because of all the bad things she had done. She knew she had not lived a good moral life, and that she had made one bad choice after another.
When my friend explained to her that the good news of the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins so we could receive His righteousness, and be able to have a relationship with God free from guilt and condemnation, she believed her. She received Jesus in her heart and just as if someone had turned a switch in her soul, she went from feeling guilty to feeling grateful.
The effect that mindset shift had in her was evident and miraculous. Just like that, she left behind the guilt and shame she had been carrying for years and took God at His word when He invited her to see herself the way He sees her.
I love this story because I think many of us have been Christians for a long time, but sometimes forget that in Christ we are a new creation. We forget that guilt and shame should no longer be part of our lives. And when we forget that, we are no longer walking in the grace and freedom He paid such a high price for.
When this woman opened her heart to the gospel, she went and shared it with a friend right away. She told her friend, “Someone just told me that God has forgiven me for all the bad things that I’ve done, because Jesus paid the price for my sins on the cross, and I believed her!”
I pray that just like this precious woman, we may have the faith to fully grasp that we are forgiven, that if the Son has set us free, we are free indeed, and that we can move from guilt to gratitude just like she did. All we have to do is believe it!
Your turn!
- God loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there. Is there an area in your life God is convicting you to change?
- Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any areas in which you might still carry shame and condemnation.
- Ask God to allow you to see yourself the way He sees you.
- Look up verses to remind you of who you are in Christ.
Photo by Daniel Reche
