(If you missed the previous posts from my Freedom Series, be sure to go back and catch up!  To read, Freedom from Burdens, click here. For Freedom from Sin and Death click here. And, for Freedom from Worldly Priorities, click here.)

When Brad and I were first studying the Bible, one of my biggest struggles was understanding how God could give me Freedom from my Guilt and Shame.  I had a really hard time wrapping my brain around how He could find me worthy of His grace and forgiveness.

After all, I was, am, and will always be, a sinner. And, because I then knew just how much I had sinned in my lifetime, how could there not be some guilt and shame associated with that?  And, because I was feeling so guilty about all the things I had done, it made it awfully hard to feel worthy of God’s grace and forgiveness.

But, after studying it out and talking it through in our Bible Study, I realized He wants to forgive us and wants us to get rid of our guilt and shame.  It is all part of  Him being our Father.  It’s really just more one way He demonstrates His love for us.

God Frees Us from Guilt and Shame

Why would He do that?  He knew we would all be sinners.  As Paul said in Romans,

Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal.                         Romans 3:23 LAB

Every single one of us – except Jesus – has failed.  A lot.

So, how can he free us?  He promised that He would.

But if we confess our sins to Him, He can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. (And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.)                          1 John 1:9  LAB

Truly a pretty simple process to understand.

But, much more difficult to put into practice…

When we sin, we feel bad.  If we repent and ask for forgiveness, then God forgives us and moves on.   The problem is, our memory of it lasts longer than God’s.

I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.                    Hebrews 10:17

God forgives us and then forgets that we sinned.  He is definitely providing an excellent example for us to follow.

Then, David shared how he was Freed from Guilt in a Psalm –

All day and night Your hand was heavy on me.  My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day until I finally admitted all my sins to You and stopped trying to hide them.  I said to myself, “I will confess them to the Lord.” And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone.                  Psalm 32:4-5 (LAB emphasis mine)

So, really, all we need to do is confess and repent so we can accept God’s forgiveness and be Freed from our Guilt and Shame.

How do we accept God’s Promise of Freedom?

We need to believe God.  We need to have faith in His promises.

Let us go right in, to God Himself, with true hearts fully trusting Him to receive us, because we have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and because our bodies have been washed with pure water.                       Hebrews 10:22  LAB

We need to have true hearts that trust His acceptance.  Through Jesus we are forgiven.

Under this new plan we have been forgiven and made clean by Christ’s dying for us once and for all.                    Hebrews 10:10  LAB

In Psalm 103, we are told,

He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.                             Psalm 103:12

That’s as far as possible.  How then, might we still feel the effects?

Then, we get another promise in Hebrews –

And I will be merciful to them in their wrongdoings, and I will remember their sins no more.         Hebrews 8:12 LAB

Now What?

All of God’s promises tell us we have been forgiven and washed clean.  He removed our sins and has completely forgotten them.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:25-26, “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word.”

But, in order for God to forgive our sins and put them out of His mind, we need to confess and repent.

So, that is step one.

Then, after asking for forgiveness and changing our ways, we need to accept His forgiveness and let go of the guilt and the shame.

So, there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus.                Romans 8:1

Jesus paid the price for our sins so we can be right with God and receive the type of Freedom only He can offer.

So, now, after studying out and reading through His promises one more time, I am once again reminded of how gracious and loving our Father is.  And, I am so thankful for this Freedom from Guilt and Shame.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think?  How does God give us Freedom from Guilt and Shame?  What verses have you found that have helped you release those feelings?  I would love to hear your thoughts.  I am excited to hear from you all!