Sheila L. Mills
“In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame” (Psalm 71:1).
While listening to a Bible teaching broadcast, the words, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future,” flowed from the mouth of the speaker and into my natural ears and my spiritual ears. Through my natural ears, the words registered with my mind and formed a picture of the realities of life. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 KJV). However, through my spiritual ears, I heard God speaking with such clarity that I was locked in place to hear more. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 KJV).
That day, I felt as if God had called me to a spiritual shoreline of sorts, to hear and receive the Bible teacher’s wise words, and to lift me from a place of shame for not obeying His commandment to love others as He has loved me. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34 KJV).
One might ask, what is the harm or shame in not loving others? To be ashamed is like feeling guilty because of one’s actions or of being indebted to someone or something. God’s Word tells us, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). My greater sense of shame and urgency was in how my silent disobedience of unforgiveness was affecting the integrity of how—as a child of God—I outwardly express my love for others. I found myself wrestling to show God’s forgiving love towards those who mistreated me during childhood and inwardly feeling distrustful and resentful. It was very comfortable for me to say that I love everyone. But, at the same time, I avoided any heartfelt commitment to express that love towards them.
His Word is clear. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8).
As I cried out to God to forgive me for not loving others as He’d commanded, including those who had hurt me in the past, His words permeated my soul. God was reminding me that the pain I’d experienced from people rejecting me was pale in comparison to the hurt I caused by my past rejection of Jesus’ love towards me. I was reminded of an important life lesson that all humans are flawed in our capacity to love imperfect people. I was holding onto the harm done to me and almost forgot the self-harm wrestling within me. As a child of God, while I struggled to love those who caused me emotional pain, I still had to responsibility to walk in love towards them because of knowing that God is love. At that moment I began to experience His love and forgiveness for the imperfect person that I am.
On my knees in prayer, I envisioned a soft, crashing wave landing on a beach shore. It not only brought with it a surge of water to wash over the sand and grit lying there, but also a drawing away of any loose objects that were not anchored in truth. I felt my place of shame being carried out to the open sea of God’s love and forgiveness. God’s Word tells us, “He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).
My place of shame for not loving and not forgiving those who had wounded me, caused me to be chained to my past experiences of the rejection and pain. However, in that moment, God picked me up and planted my feet on a secure shoreline of life to trust Him for a future that knows no shame. “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” (Psalm 147:3, NLT).
As saints of God, we all have a past that we may be too ashamed to admit to others. However, God is inviting us to receive His free gift of living water. He desires to lift us up from the eroding shoreline of guilt and shame intended to keep us buried in our past
The Word says, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you’” (Jeremiah 31:3, NKJV).
We have all made mistakes and disappointed ourselves and others. But when we face our eroding shorelines of guilt and shame, God’s love draws us out to sea. It’s a sea of promise. He promises to forgive us. He promises to quench our thirst for healing. He promises to provide us with a daily surge of his living water. He promises to make us purified and without shame.
Remembering the words, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future,” I can sing a new beach love-song to the Lord. “In you, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame.”
Scripture references: New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.