Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Finished with Shame and Guilt” for Tuesday, 4 November 2014 - Scripture: John 19:28 Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, “I’m thirsty.”
29-30 A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. After he took the wine, Jesus said, “It’s done . . . complete.” Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!(2 Corinthians 5:17 (NRSV))
My mother worked, assembling heaters, to support her four children. On the weekends, Mama consoled herself by drinking until she was drunk. On weeknights, she released her frustrations by wielding a leather belt as punishment when her children left a chore undone, argued with each other, or questioned an order. Mama’s insecurities led to poor choices: an abusive boyfriend; isolation from her parents and siblings; and drug and alcohol abuse, which eventually contributed to her death.
I continued the pattern of making poor choices, which mired me in shame and guilt. I chose alcohol and drugs over spiritual and personal development, isolation over community, taking instead of giving. I longed to be set free. One day, sitting in a cold, grey cement-block cell, I found freedom as I read about Jesus’ dying on the cross. I realized that Jesus made a choice to save me from my bad choices. The Savior’s final words, “It is finished,” mean that I am saved from sin and from sin’s damaging by-products: anxiety, shame, and guilt. When we truly believe this, we can be set free from the hurts, hang-ups, and bad habits that keep us from becoming the people God intended us to be.
The Author: Avon White (Tennessee, USA)
Thought for the Day: In Christ we are free from shame and guilt.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to understand that Jesus’ death and resurrection mean that we are set free from bondage. Amen.
Prayer focus; Those who feel defeated by past mistakes
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