Ephesians 1:7

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Knowing that Jesus has died for my sins is something I try to never take for granted. But often we forget. We beat ourselves up over past sins and live in that stew of guilt and shame. When we do this, we keep reliving something God set us free from. Sometimes it holds us back and prevents us from becoming the person he wants us to be. Sometimes something happens that puts us back in that place of shame…maybe it’s something that happened at work and we dropped the ball and now all eyes are on the mistake you made and now you are in a place of reliving all of your past mistakes. You start to think gosh, I really am a screw up and can’t do anything right…we start to let that shame taint us…it can effect the day’s work or tasks at hand because we live in that self doubt. This keeps us from being all that we can be.

On the opposite side of this there are people who have been so built up that when they fall or make a mistake they can’t take ownership of it or admit when they are wrong. That’s pride.

We have to find balance between shame and pride and learn that our identity and value come from knowing we are redeemed, but that our work is important and living in shame holds us back from what God is having us do, day in and day out in our lives.

Shame can hold us back and pride can hold us back.

Just like it says in Ephesians 1:7, “we are redeemed through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

Lord help us to see ourselves in a healthy way. When we we can view our selves in a healthy way we can move past the sin that holds us back and get on with our mission in this world. Lord help us to put that first, put you first.

Amen.