For many people, the real barrier is not doubt. It is shame.
Shame does not argue theology. It whispers identity. It says you are too much. Not enough. Too broken. Too inconsistent. Too aware of your own flaws to believe God could enjoy you.
So even when you say, God loves me, shame quietly adds, but not like that.
From the beginning, shame has caused hiding. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve did not run from God because they stopped believing He existed. They ran because they felt exposed. Ashamed. Convinced they were no longer safe in His presence.
If God sees everything, He must be disappointed
The truth is this, nothing about you has surprised Him.
Jesus Christ is King. Jesus Christ is Lord. The cross was not a reaction to your failure. It was provision before your defense.
Shame tells you to shrink back. The gospel invites you to step forward.
Hope enters when you realize God’s knowledge of you is complete, and His desire for you remains unchanged. He sees the insecurity. He sees the envy. He sees the trauma responses. He sees the hidden thoughts. And He still draws near.
Shame loses power when you stop agreeing with it.
The question is no longer, Does God endure me, but, Why am I still enduring shame when Christ has already covered it?
What would change if you treated shame like a liar instead of a narrator?
Focus Point
Shame cannot survive where Christ’s acceptance is believed.
