She Speaks FireSample

When we grow up thinking we must constantly be something to be approved or affirmed, we never quite find that place of fulfillment and rest in who we already are and in what God has already done. Life becomes a series of actions to show off and toot our own horns rather than a series of actions that show off what God has done and is still doing in our lives. We focus on all the things we still need to do to be able to say we’ve arrived instead of being able to look at what Christ already did on the cross when we did absolutely nothing. Romans 5:8 shows us that He didn’t die a brutal death on the cross out of punishment for how bad we were but to demonstrate how loved we are by Him: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

If that doesn’t get you to fully believe in God’s approval and affirmation of you, let’s go back to the garden. Before sin and shame had even come onto the scene and before Adam and Eve had ever done a thing, God had already approved and affirmed humanity. The Bible says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31 esv). . . .

Friend, God is saying to you today: You are My daughter, whom I love, and with you I am well pleased. Or Son, you have My approval, and I love you just because you're My child. Allow that truth sink down deep inside you and own it. Live from that place and build your house on the steady consistency of the Father’s approval of you.

Listen to me: shame ain’t loyal to you. So you have no reason to stay loyal to it. What do I mean? Shame’s priority is not you, your family, your purpose, or your future. Its priority is keeping you close so that it can have authority and influence over you. It has no vested interest in your freedom, only your bondage. It’s not moved with emotion when it watches you destroy your life. It carries no remorse for the havoc it wreaks. Shame is not your friend, and you don’t have to keep inviting it into your heart. It doesn’t deserve your trust. God does.

Prayer

Father, I am sorry that I’ve allowed shame and lies to steal my focus. Please help me remove it from my heart and to embrace the love and peace You’ve given me. Amen.