Overcoming Shame Through Faith: Reclaiming Your Identity in God

For more than a decade I’ve sat in the revelation that faith and shame do not mix and have no business with each other. I spent a long time in my Christian life feeling like I had to prove my faith. Whether it was fasting enough, going on the streets and evangelizing, reading my bible, I felt as if I had to work for my faith. As hard as I worked for it, it was never enough. I always came out on the other side exhausted and ashamed of myself because I was never enough. What I eventually came to realize was that it was shame gripping me away from the true revelation of faith. 

It was 2013 after just graduating college and God met me at my lowest state of shame. To keep a long story short, He spent the next few years cultivating my true identity in my heart and  revealing the truth that shame has no place with the one who believes in Him. If shame is present there is a root lie present and it's most often a lie about you.

As I continued to receive this revelation, I began to understand the victory God bought for His people by the blood of Jesus. It was not an idea to behold but a reality to comprehend, to agree with, and to live in. It is in this reality of victory and who God says you are that allows us to walk in true faith that He bought for us as a gift. 

As a reminder, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). We believe in the victory of Jesus cleansing us from our sin and uniting us with the Father as BELOVED sons and daughters. We believe this by faith and by nothing we’ve done. But shame will always say that it’s not enough, it will say, "I am bad" "I am not enough" or "Something's wrong with me." It will do anything in it’s power to enforce the lie and keep you in a place if proving and striving to receive love and connection. Your own life’s experiences or what you have not yet achieved, now become provers of whatever lie is beneath that shame. 

The more I understood who I am in Christ, the more faith grew and the ability to disarm shame. With anything from praying for people, making the right life decisions, to spending alone time with God, dismantling any beliefs of shame became a form of art. Yet, as my faith grew, it was tested- Responsibilities increased and life became more demanding. But this revelation of faith continues to be a firm foundation that displaces shame. 

The simple truth is the price Jesus paid was enough. It was enough to cover all of your failures. It was enough for you not to prove anything but to simply receive His love as He reveals who you truly are in Him. Shame will make you scared of failing again. But as the scripture says, “commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act” (Psalm 37:5). Whatever decision you make, embrace the possibility of failing and say yes in faith. That’s what it means to commit your way to Him in trust. That is the faith a child has in their Father.