Rich Dixon is following up on his own thinking.

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I’ve been thinking about guilt and shame since last time.

Guilt’s about something I’ve done wrong. Until I deal with it, the guilt remains.

Problem is, often we’re hanging on to stuff we’re afraid might be unforgivable. So we try to ignore it, and we end up circling and circling.

Today, I’d like to explore the notion of shame, the idea that something is wrong with me. In Genesis 3, after they disobeyed God, they realized they were naked and hurried to cover themselves. Did they feel guilty, or ashamed?

Probably both, but I suspect it was mostly shame. They knew something was different. For the first time, their nakedness mattered. I think these people, created to walk in the garden beside God himself, suddenly felt like they had broken something fundamental within themselves.

Their self-consciousness marked a shame that hadn’t existed before.

Their shame, their inability to approach God transparently, became part of every human’s circumstance – until Jesus. His sacrifice ensured our release from that original shame. We can approach him, journey with him, completely transparently.

I wonder how many of us claim to follow Jesus, but haven’t quite claimed the freedom that goes with it. How many of us, if we’re honest, still somehow feel ashamed, somehow feel like we ought to hide some part of ourselves? How many of us feel like we can’t be truly, fully, completely transparent before God?

I’m thinking about you and me and our kids and The FREEDOM TOUR community. Last time I said I couldn’t imagine what it’s like for one of our kids to learn early on that they’re broken and not worthy of love. Someone pointed out – that happens to lots of people, and it’s not limited to trafficking victims.

There’s hope, of course. There’s restoration.

Jesus does that.