Shame, Be Gone.
"Stop trying to pull things up from the past that you think you need forgiveness for, Rachael. Just love me."
These words were told to me from sweet Jesus while worshipping a few months back. I was confused and didn't know how to worship Him. I thought worship was a time of receiving freedom from my sin. By confessing and crying through what I had done. But that isn't what worship is. Worship is praising Jesus for everything He has done, who He is, and what's to come.
See, what I was looking for was for the shame to be gone from all things I had done in the past. I was looking for an emotional experience to "heal" me. But instead, Jesus pointed me to scripture that says, "There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1) and that He already forgave me. I was holding onto shame that didn't need to be there. I was trying to look for forgiveness and to feel better about myself. But that was already done on the cross. Notice the important word, "now" in Romans 8:1...
You've heard a million times that Jesus died for you. Jesus died on the cross for you. But do you actually know why and what that meant?
Yes, Jesus died for us but scripturally Jesus did not come here to die specifically for Rachael Kaulen. He came here to die for the Father (John 6:57). He came to die for the Father so humans could be in relationship with God. Jesus came to fulfill what the first Adam did not. God's plan of intimacy has never changed. He created us for relationship and has never wanted anything else. Jesus came as the last Adam so that we all could be restored into perfect relationship with the Father (1 Corinthians 15:45).
So Jesus died for us and took His righteousness and placed it in our accounts. We have relationship with the Father because Jesus' righteousness has been imputed to us, through His obedience to the Father. (Romans 5:13) Imputed means to literally set to one's account or lay at one's charge. So, we have no sin against us because the law is no longer our judge; but the eyes of a loving Father who only see's His Son's righteousness.
By holding onto shame that shouldn't be there is basically saying what Jesus did on the cross was for nothing (Galatians 2:21). You guys, Jesus wiped away all sin. All law is fulfilled. The veil is torn and love is multiplied. Because of Jesus, there is grace that we can never fathom.
So that night I was worshipping, the Lord started to reveal His love and grace to me in a whole new way. He took me on this journey of discovering that Christianity is not a religion. I will not define how much God loves me by how good I am or how many times I repent. But instead, a reaction in my lifestyle because of that revelation of how much the Father love's me. I will not be walking my days out with regret of what I have done because I know that I am redeemed by His love.
A result of these revelations is a lifestyle change. By living through perfect love, the temptation to do sinful things is not appealing. When you are living in alignment with the Father, He gives you the desires of your heart and what you ask of. Yes, the Father knows we will mess up, but because of Jesus, we do not need to carry the weight of that sin.
Friends, when you mess up and feel shameful for what you have done remember this truth. Remember that it WAS bought with a cost. But know that the Father's love for His children is so deep and so powerful that our sin could never triumph over it. If you are reading this and realize you have a root of shame in your life go through these steps with me.
Repent. Simply apologize for what you have done and move on. Remember that repenting is a joyful process that we get to go through because of the Father's infinite sacrifice & grace for us. Don't spend too much time on this because if you drag it along then the enemy will try to put the spirit of shame in you.
Recieve. Sit in a quiet place with no distraction and receive the Father's love for you. Don't move on until you have felt a peace that cannot come from anyone else except for Him.
Rebuke. You look at what was keeping you in bondage for so long and tell the enemy not anymore. #NotTodaySatan Have fun with this step. Rebuke all lies that the enemy has told you and the lies you've told yourself. Rebuke the enemy because you have the spirit of God in you. You have the authority to do that.
Replace. Now that the lies and beliefs are gone fill it with the truth. Either look at the scripture I used in this post or look it up yourself. Pull out your journal and write scripture out. Over the next few days, memorize this scripture so when the enemy tries to come back- because he will- you will be prepared to combat those lies (Ephesians 6).