Baggage Claim - Guilt and Shame

We believe that that Jesus died. We believe that he rose from the dead. We believe that he forgives, but we still live like we owe. We still shrink back when God calls us as if the cross wasn't enough. But listen carefully. If the debt has been nailed to the cross, you don't get to keep making payments. If the judge has declared you justified, you don't get to reopen the case. If God has removed your your sins as far as east from the West, you don't get to go searching for it. [01:02:33] (37 seconds)  #StopMakingPayments

So here's the decision. You can keep rehearsing your worst moment, or you can press on towards your calling. You can keep reintroducing yourself by your failure, or you can agree with what God says about you. You can't do both. You can't do both. At some point, you stop picking up the baggage. At some point, you say, that happened and God forgave it. It shaped me, but it will not name me. And you press on. Because what's ahead of you in Christ is greater than what's behind you with guilt and shame. [01:14:27] (43 seconds)  #PressOnForward

If shame began in a garden, freedom, it was secured on a hill. And the cross, it did not simply make forgiveness possible, it canceled the record completely. Paul writes in Colossians chapter two that that we were dead in our sins, but God, he made us alive with Christ. And then he says something powerful. He says, God forgave all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us. He has taken it away, nailing it to a cross. [00:59:16] (38 seconds)  #RecordCancelled

We need to remember that God is greater than our hearts. Our feelings, they're not the final authority. If God has forgiven you, your shame does not get to overrule his verdict. Conviction, it draws you toward God and it leads to freedom. Shame, it pushes you into hiding and it leads to bondage. You may have done wrong, but in Christ, you are not wrong. And that difference changes everything. [00:53:20] (37 seconds)  #GodOverFeelings

Don't miss this. The only one qualified to condemn her chose not to. He didn't excuse the sin, he didn't ignore her behavior, but what he did do is he refused to cement it as her identity. He removed condemnation, and then he called her forward. That's what grace does. Shame says, this is who you are. God says, that's not your name. [01:07:26] (29 seconds)  #GraceNotCondemnation

Here, David, he describes guilt as it's like a heavy weight that's holding him down. He's groaning. His strength, it's drained. That heaviness, it wasn't God trying to crush him. It was God trying to bring him back. Conviction, it's like a warning light on our dashboards. When it turns on, it's not there to shame you, it's there to save you. It says, something needs your attention. And when David finally confessed, what happened to that weight? It was lifted. [00:50:25] (40 seconds)  #WeightLifted

Did you notice the progression? First, they realized that they were naked. Then, they tried to cover themselves. And finally, what did they do? They hid. And that's the pattern of shame. You know, first comes our awareness, and then comes our covering, and then the final thing, we hide. Adam didn't say, I made a mistake. He said, I was afraid because I was naked. Shame? It shifted the focus from what he did to who he believed he was. [00:55:57] (40 seconds)  #FromNakedToHidden

And here's what you need to understand. When God justifies you, he doesn't say, well, you you know you were kind of wrong. We're just gonna slide. No. He declared you righteous because the penalty has already been satisfied by Christ. Which means that if you're in Christ, there is no outstanding balance. There are no pending charges. But shame, it doesn't operate on theology. It operates on our memories. And that's why some believers, you're forgiven, but you're not free. [01:01:56] (37 seconds)  #NoOutstandingBalance