Unashamed-How God Uses Shame to Awaken the True Self

I cannot deny the fact God makes it intrinsically clear that He accepts me-in fact; He delights in me-as an individual bearer of His image. I am all that God wants me to be. The eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, the heart, the mind, all were created just the way in which He desired them to be-“He looked at His creation and declared, ‘it is very good.’” The Beloved Disciple, John, understood this acceptance well and noted: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” Indeed, it is what we are. Yet, we cannot denounce the fact that everything-and I mean everything including every single cell in our earthly bodies-murmurs the opposite. It screams the chorus of a song we have been hearing our whole lives-“You are cursed and gone astray. You are unworthy, you have failed, you fall way short.” As if anticipating this response-or perhaps struggling with accepting the reality himself-John follows: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him.” Though all of which I am created to be is here, there are massive amounts which I have failed in understanding, grasping, nor mastering. A part of me remains hidden and undeveloped. Yet, the more amazing aspect is this: the work of the Holy Spirit precedes, fashioning our true selves. My friends, we can never construct the personality that pleases God, but God can and He promises to do exactly that. While yet still wallowing in sin-as the minor chords of Satan’s chorus played deafly in our ears-the end had been written. And like melancholy upon the ears, the major chords of the written refrain broke through to calm us-“Jesus Saves.” And as a result, “I am unashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”