Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Leave it at the Cross




 I've recently experienced some of the above phrases...from myself and from someone I love who feels this way.  It really spoke to my heart that this is something that I need freedom from and I want to help someone else along the way.    I think we all at one point or another do something in our lives that makes us feel as if we are "Not good enough", "Not pretty enough" or "Not smart enough".  We all sin and not one of us is perfect, yet we tend to compare ourselves to others who seem to have it all together on the OUTSIDE.   We carry what we've done around with us - we wear it like an overcoat and it weighs us down.  We compare ourselves to others without knowing what their story is.  We all sin - no one sin is greater than another - yet we look at our sin and think that we must wear this coat of shame even though God has offered us a cloak of righteousness.   Why do we listen to the father of lies instead of the Giver of Life?

When Eve sinned her eyes were opened, and for the first time she pulled back a little in shame - and we as women have been doing it ever since.  We look in the mirror and instead of seeing the "Image-Likeness" of Christ, we see shame, guilt, filth.  Since that day in the garden we have tried to be good enough for God, for others, and we continue to come up short in our minds.  But god clothes us in righteousness.  He takes away our dirty rags and gives us robes of righteousness. 

Shame is different than guilt.  Guilt says I've DONE something wrong while shames says I AM something wrong.  Our shame can make us pull away from God and from others before they reject us.  But God shows us love, mercy, grace, hope, promise of a future.  We are all broken and flawed, but God loves us as we are and has taken our shame from us. 

Today I pray for you and for me, that God helps us see that He has already paid the price for our shame.  We need to lay our dirty rags at the foot of the cross and put on our new coat of righteousness, paid with His blood.  Carrying around all that shame and guilt says that what Christ did wasn't good enough for US, and so we need to continue to punish ourselves for the sin He has already forgiven.   Our sin is removed as far as the east is from the west - He sees it no more. We are clean in His sight.  What Christ did on the cross was enough.  Today, leave it at the cross.  Its too heavy for us to bear so let Him take it from you.  Walk in your righteousness today and when you look in the mirror see:


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