The word “unashamed” is my word for 2023. Earlier this year, I prayed, pondered, and heard “I want you to stand and see yourself as unashamed in all situations. Learn the real meaning of holiness.” Throughout this year, God has shown me that I have clung to my perfectionistic tendency and judged myself guilty for past choices and sins. The result of that judgment rendered me bound to my past and hindered my ability to look ahead and believe for His best.
His grace has allowed me to see that I must change my thinking about my own history. When I look back, I need to see that I have learned from my mistakes, that God has forgiven me through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that He has thrown them into the sea of forgetfulness. It is arrogant to see my sin as unforgiven. I am not God; His thoughts are higher and holy where mine are often self-centered. Pride tells me that I can think that I can make me better than I was or am. Instead, humility and acknowledgment that I need the Holy Spirit change my position from prideful to dependent. Dependence on God for all good things keeps me from pride and arrogance.
So, I have learned this year to change my thinking. When I am reminded of the past, whether by musing on my life story or the flash of the enemy’s accusation, I choose now to remember that I am forgiven. I am released from my sin and its repercussions. My inheritance is now that of a child of God: Freedom from the past and hope for the future. Paul speaks of this goal for believers as he describes his calling by Jesus to King Agrippa in the Book of Acts:
Acts 26:18 …to open their [spiritual] eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by faith in Me.’ Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
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