If we discover that we have made a mistake and we are needing to act on that discovery, we need to be aware how another voice will come and try to bring condemnation.
This voice is the enemy’s voice.
The enemy will use shame to deceive us into believing that we are a horrible person for the mistake that we made. He comes to accuse us saying that we do not have the right to be a child of God because of what we did.
And in walks our Savior who advocates for us.
He reminds us that our identity is now in Him and the mistake we have made does not equate to us being a bad person. He shares how the deception of the enemy is to confuse us into believing something about ourselves that is just not true.
It is so important that we understand how what we believe about ourselves will result in how we make choices. So if the enemy can deceive you into believing that you are a bad person because of one mistake, then he can set you on course to make more wrong choices.
Separate your wrong action from who you are. Do not give into this deception of shame from the enemy.
Tell yourself the truth.
You made a poor choice, a choice out of character, and you are going to remember who you truly are and whose you belong to. You are a child of God and you belong to Him. He has bought you at a price, an extremely high price.
The Lord brings correction and encourages us to turn from our wrong and step towards a righteous path. He does not condemn us and He does not shame us, but He does call us to repent.
You will and should feel an emotion of sadness for what you did and even regret, but you should not feel shame or that you are a bad person. Shame will keep you locked in place, unrepentant and unwilling to move forward after the wrong done.
It keeps you from the Lord and away from turning from your mistake.
You can identify this attack of shame when the emotions of regret you feel become so distressing that you find yourself moving towards self hatred. When this is happening in your heart then you need to rebuke this attack and lie of the enemy.
Shame is not yours to carry.