This is a special message today for anyone who feels that they are living below their God-given potential. I want to speak to those of you who cannot seem to shake that feeling of shame in your life. I want to speak to those of you who are frustrated about continuing to struggle with that same issue in your life over and over again and not being able to find victory over it. Is there anyone out there who fights feelings of inadequacy or a constant sense of being not quite good enough?
I think it is safe to say that as humans, we all at least have occasional moments that we question our worth or value, or we feel remorse for something we have done. Living in a fallen world, these feelings are part of human nature. God has standards of perfection that are impossible for us to ever achieve on our own, and He established His law to show us our inadequacies without Him. He did this intentionally. The Holy Spirit convicts our hearts and helps us to realize how deficient we are without Him. Therefore, all of this points us to our need for a Savior to come save us from ourselves as well as from the destruction that is inevitable because of our sin nature. This is how He draws us to Himself so that He can turn it all around for us.
• “It was the law that showed me my sin.” Romans 7:7 NLT (I used New Living Translation for all Scripture unless otherwise noted.)
• “… For its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. …The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:19-20
• “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23
What we must understand is that Jesus took care of all our sin, grief, guilt, and shame on the cross. These things no longer have control over us. We who once were slaves to sin have been given a new nature.
• “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
The problem is when these feelings of condemnation settle in to our hearts to perpetually keep us down below our potential in Christ. We must remember that we have an enemy whose sole purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants nothing more than to thwart God’s purpose for our lives. God’s purpose is to give us an abundant life, a life of freedom and joy in Him, a rich and satisfying life, a life in which He is able to accomplish great things in and through. The enemy only wants to destroy, or at least hamper, all of that potential. He wants to keep us as slaves to sin so that we can never experience the freedom that Christ died to give us. The only way he can even get a foothold in our thinking is when we let him. That is why we must be vigilant and protect our hearts and minds. Satan’s old bag of tricks is always the same; it is full of lies. If we do not keep our hearts and minds stayed on Christ, we can so easily be deceived and fall for his antics. The best anecdote for his deception is God’s truth, and to finally be free from these strongholds in our lives that keep us from truly living, we must saturate our hearts and minds with God’s Word.
• “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10
• “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
I am so blown away as I contemplate during this most holy week about all that Jesus has done for us. God, the Creator of heaven and earth and all life, the Almighty one Himself, shed His rightful glory and put on the garment of human flesh. He humbled Himself so that we could relate to Him. He lived a perfect example for us and taught us everything we need for abundant living. He lived a sinless life, never saying or doing anything wrong. Yet, He suffered in our place. He became sin for us, carrying all of our burdens, sin, sickness, sadness, hurts, shame, condemnation, and confusion with Him to the cross. Every blasted bit of it was nailed with Him on that rugged, bloody cross. He took care of our sin problem once and for all! He declared that it was finished, and that means that we do not ever have to struggle with these things again.
What we have to do is to accept that what He did for us is enough. If we continue to mull in our shame, inadequacies, or enslavement to sin, then we are falling for the enemy’s lies that we are less than what God says we are. If we continue to strive on our own efforts to be good enough, we are nullifying what Christ did for us on the cross. It is time for us to be free from guilt and shame once and for all. It is time to quit our stinking thinking that is keeping us in bondage. Christ has set us free, and we can choose to accept, believe, and live the new life He died to give us. Let us consider these simple truths and allow them to penetrate deeply into our hearts.
• “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” Galatians 2:20
• “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
• “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” Romans 3:23-24
• “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” Romans 8:1-2
• “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” Hebrews 10:10
• “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” Romans 3:21-22
Do you now understand by meditating on these truths what Christ accomplished for us? You are more than the enemy wants you to believe you are. Do not be deceived again, but whenever you have those inadequate feelings again, remind yourself of what God says about you in His Word. When you feel unworthy, or the old ways of thinking begin creeping in, remember that we have been crucified with Christ. Our old nature no longer lives, but it is Christ who lives in us. His Word also says that we are the righteousness of God. Now, that one can be a hard one to swallow. Even after all we have done wrong, when we have faith in Jesus and what He did for us, He actually calls us righteous! I will even say that one again: HE SAYS I AM RIGHTEOUS! We are not condemned anymore, but we have been set free from the power of sin. We are also made holy by Jesus’ sacrifice. Yes, He also says that we have been made holy! And, the best part of that truth is that God’s Word says that we have been made holy once and for all!
So, Friends, hold your head up!
