THE BIG 6
Will I ever be good enough?
Will I ever be good enough?
Guilt and fear and shame etch themselves into our lives. We feel we fail to measure up—maybe to our own standards or someone else’s. We are under so many pressures to perform and excel. We get stressed, anxiety kicks in, panic attacks come—that overwhelming sense of “I don’t measure up.”
Or we feel stained and worthless because of the actions of others—our story irretrievably ruined, sometimes even before it had begun.
For many reasons, guilt and shame leave their grubby fingerprints on our soul. We go through life without a light at the end of the tunnel—all too aware of our own failings.
At the beginning of the Bible’s story we meet a couple wrapped in guilt and shame. And to them God promises he would send one who would deal finally with these twin stains.
And so the Bible’s story unfolds until the remover of guilt and shame appears. And it is wonderfully summed up in these two verses:
“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10:1)
Jesus came to deal with guilt and shame. Both the real guilt and shame that we have, and the guilt and shame we feel because of the unjust actions of others.
There is a sense in which we are rightly guilty before God. And our sense of never being good enough is right. But what if God offered to exchange our record of failure for Jesus’ record of perfection?
That’s exactly the good news of the Bible. When we put our trust in Jesus guilt is banished forever. You can hear now the verdict of the day of Judgment—Not Guilty!
And what about shame? When you hear God say that he will lavish you with his love and give you the same status as his Son (1 John 3:1)—that has the power to kill off all shame. Even the shame we feel before others.
There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Turn to Him and he will set you free.
