Two Simple but Powerful Words -- But Jesus

From Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ"

Recently, I spoke at our women’s bible study on The Woman Caught in the Act of Adultery in John 8 (click here, if you’d like to listen to it), and two words keep coming back to me, as the weeks have passed. I have been reciting them to myself, asking the Lord to show me how to trust these words and Him, as I live and love.

But Jesus …

The woman caught in the act of adultery stood condemned. She was outwardly condemned as others looked down on her for what she did, with plans to stone her, and I’m pretty sure inwardly condemned, as she looked in at her choices.

The word condemnation has a critical overtone. A harsh, humiliating, demeaning, feel that says, “you’re wrong. You’re bad. You’ve failed.”

When I stand in the sand with this woman, I can relate.  Maybe you can, too. Different circumstances, different choices, different stories, but similar experiences of condemnation with resulting shame.

Condemnation will come in this life. I don't like it, but it will.

Sometimes others judge us, belittle us, tell us verbally or non-verbally, that we are worthless. We may have been treated harshly, been humiliated and been hurt because of the judging actions of others.

Sometimes we condemn ourselves. Filled with shame and guilt over choices that we’ve made, we hold ourselves captive to condemnation.

And sometimes we experience condemnation from the evil one. He tries to put us down and tempt us to hopelessness. He wants us to think that we are too much, too late, and too far gone.

Condemnation will come in this life -- but Jesus ...

The woman in this story is dragged in to the presence of Jesus, and a crowd of onlookers.  The religious leaders are using her as bait to trap Jesus; they don’t care about her.  Jesus knows that, and he does the unexpected. He turns things upside down.  He is radically different, extremely different!

“But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger.”  (John 8:6b).

In an amazing act of compassion and care, all eyes went to Jesus and off of her. 

Why does He do that? I can’t be sure, maybe that just how Jesus is; He gave her the gift of relief.  Shortly after that in the story, He would give her an even greater relief, the gift of freedom and forgiveness, when he said to her, “… neither do I condemn you. Go now, and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11).

He does the same for us.  Outwardly, others may put us down. Inwardly, we may put ourselves down, but Jesus …

Two simple but profound words that we can remember and rehearse when the world closes in -- but Jesus.

I would like to share with you what I read at the end of the lesson that day.  I don’t know where you are today, but maybe you are in need of a reminder that you are seen by the Lover of your Soul,  and that He is here for you, willing to give you relief and freedom.

Others may put you down for what you’ve done or not done, but Jesus … He stands for you, and is here to help you.

You may put yourself down, but Jesus … He loves you.

Others may treat you like trash, but Jesus … He sees you as a treasure.

Others may use you like an object, but Jesus … to Him you are a person, with great value.

You may feel poorly about yourself, but Jesus … You matter to Him.

You may feel abandoned and rejected,  but Jesus … He will never leave you nor forsake you.

You may feel alone, but Jesus … He is present and embraces you.

You may feel like you are mistake rather than made a mistake, but Jesus … He does not shame you, making you feel like you are a mistake. He created you and made you for a purpose.

You may feel humiliated, but Jesus … He does not humiliate you, He holds you.

You may be unjustly judged, but Jesus ... He sees and knows all.

You may have lost your way, and are scared that you’ll never find your way, but Jesus … despite our problems and our mistakes, He shows us the way to walk with Him. 

You may feel hopeless, but Jesus ... He gives us hope. He is our hope!

You may feel like a ‘nobody,’ but Jesus …  He thinks your somebody, somebody important enough to die for.

But Jesus -- But Jesus --But Jesus

Held

My cell phone pinged the other day, with a text message and a picture from a friend.

Morgan:  Making this now … look familiar?

Me: Ur making that????  Is it the lady we think looks like shame?

Morgan: Yes … with her Kinsman Redeemer holding her and lifting her out of her shame J

Me:  That is so beautiful!   Oh, if only I would believe it lately …

Morgan: Me too girl …. Love u!

Six months ago, I travelled to Nashville and spoke at a Women’s Retreat at her church. I shared with the ladies a statue.  The little lady in the statue has quite a story – both of how my friend and I found her (click here) and the story of how the Lord has used her (click here).

Now Morgan was creating her own rendition of the statue.

She knew that I would love it – and I do!

I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product, but even now, there is something about her and the One who holds her, that moves me.  She looks raw and simple. He is so close and His love is so pure.

Morgan and I continued to text for a bit more about a name; she is still “unnamed” for now.  I think Morgan should name her. She made created her. 

But her last text struck me ...

Morgan wrote.  “U already knew her when I met her – but I guess we all did in a way.”

Dear friend, do you know shame?  Shame says, “I am a mistake” rather than “I made a mistake.”  Shame draws your head down, making you feel unloved, devalued, unwanted.

I think Morgan is right. Perhaps, we all do in a way. 

Consider yourself held today, and every day, but the One who redeems you – the One Who is the lifter of your head. His arms are wrapped around you and He holds you close.

Thank you, sweet Morgan, for reminding me.

The Shape of Shame

The statue sat near the back of the table at the yard sale. My friend and walked past it several times without noticing it. In front of it rested a menagerie of useful items, although no longer needed at that household. Glassware. A quilt. Jewelry. Books. Clothes. Serving Dishes. The usual rummage fare.

We were heading out when the figure caught our eyes. Simultaneously, we turned to each other and sighed, “shame.” The form, slightly larger than the size of the human heart, was in the shape of a woman, eyes cast down, shoulders stooped, arms wrapped around curled up legs. We immediately bought it. She planned to use it with her counseling clients, and I desired to write about it. The statue cost a mere three dollars. It was cheap compared to the price of the thing that it depicted.

My friend and I have different life stories, as we all do, but we both know the feeling and underlying messages of shame. “You are the problem. There is something wrong with you. It’s your fault. If only you were different.”

Shame is different than guilt. Guilt says, “I did something wrong.” Guilt should drive us to repentance. When we feel guilty over something we’ve done, it makes us want to ask for forgiveness and change our behavior. Shame says, “I am something wrong.” When we feel shame, we need to remember who we are, created in the image of Jesus, dearly loved.

It is part of all of us; some of us more than others, depending on our life experiences. When pushed in to, our hearts can quickly take on the shape of shame, and even our bodies as well. We find ourselves with down cast eyes, heads hung low, and shoulders stooped. We feel “less than” and it hurts.

So, what do we do when we feel our hearts molding in to the shape of shame? We seek the Lord and examine our hearts for whether we are experiencing shame or guilt. They can feel similar, and they can often meld together. It is important to realize the difference. If it is guilt, we repent. If it is shame we need to remember (or learn) God’s truth about ourselves – we are rescued, bought with a price, created with a purpose, not perfect, but perfectly, unfailingly loved by Him.

Psalm 3:3 says, “But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” Do you feel His gentle hand beneath your chin, dear reader? There is a lot of invisible power in shame, but it is not as powerful as the One who made you. He is a shield around you. He is the lifter of your head. You have value. You are beautiful. You will make mistakes, but you are not a mistake. Look up, and into the face of the One who loves you, and believe Him.

Graffiti

Tkty. Clunk. Tkty. Clunk. Tkty.Clunk. Tkty. The children and I listened to the rapid, deep, monotonous tone of the train wheels along the train track, watching it speed along side of our car, as we headed to school this morning.

“Mom? Do bad, troubled people write all that stuff on the cars of the train?” my ten year old son asked. We talked about graffiti for a bit and how graffiti is usually not good. It is commonly associated with people vandalizing, destroying or not respecting other people’s property.

Since then, visions of graffiti have clicked through my mind all day. I think we all have graffiti in our lives. Like the train cars, our hearts have been spray painted with messages by people who are troubled themselves. We travel through life past different scenery - over mountains of hope, in to valleys of despair, across the plains of apathy, over bridges of desire and through forests of confusion. We carry on through different seasons, in all sorts of weather, wearing this graffiti. Our hearts have been vandalized by words that we have heard, going with us wherever we go, and these words have stuck.

We are damaged with messages like, you are not a priority. You are not valued. You are stupid. You are too slow. You are not smart enough. You are ugly. Your feet are too big. Your nose is crooked. Your family is poor. Your hair is funny. You don’t have anything to offer. You are a looser. You are not gifted. You are not worth my time. You are different. You are not special. You are not worth loving.

The truth is, however, that the valuable cargo that the train carries is not at all determined by what is said by the graffiti on the outside of the car. And so it is with us, dear reader. We have these messages – these lies – put upon us either by the words or actions of others that are not true and they do not define who we are. They do not reflect who we are. They are ugly marks of graffiti.

Who we are inside is what matters. Sometimes we forget and believe the lies that others have placed upon us, but God does not forget. God knows who we are. He made us. He loves us, with an everlasting, never-stopping, always seeking, never-abandoning love. We are a priority to God. He has a plan for our lives and lovely things for us. He wants us to believe what He says about us, not what others say. We are valuable to Him. We are His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6).

Take time today and ask the Lord to help you face the graffiti that is written on your heart and ask Him to show you who you really are. God knows the precious cargo that you are, He created you, and He desires to write new words of truth on your heart. There are those who may vandalize and disrespect you, but God wants to revitalize you. Listen to Him, dearest reader, and believe in His tender love for you.

"He Loves Me. He Loves Me Not." We Need Not Doubt

I really do know better, but sometimes I find myself doubting God's love for me. How about you? Sometimes I am like a little girl, with a daisy gripped in my hand, plucking off petal after petal, questioning whether "He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not."

I don't like to admit it. I'd rather say I am always completely confident, but trials and turmoil in life happen and I am tempted to wonder and doubt. So, why do we doubt God's love for us?

Are we afraid? Has our courage melted and we think that perhaps God's love has dissipated along with our courage? Do we fear that it may not be true?

Do we forget what God has done for us, either because we are too busy or we do not hold on to the truth of His love? Like the Israelites after being led out of Egypt, do we forget what God has rescued us from?

Do we doubt it because of our shame? Do we let the sinful experiences of our past or present stand in the way, blocking our view of who God really is and how much He loves us, despite what we have done? Do condemn ourselves when Jesus is offering us life and love?

Or are we ignorant? Do we simply not know, perhaps because we have not looked around us? Are our hearts hardened causing us not to believe and thus turning our backs on Him? Do we go our own way, and in the process, we squander precious His love?

Does our pain hold us back from believing that God loves us through and amidst the hurt that we feel? Have other people hurt us and now it is too great for us to believe that God truly loves us when others have not loved us well? Have we been betrayed, belittled, left behind, tossed out of some one's heart, and we can't believe that God has a heart for us?

There are lots of reasons that we doubt His love, but the truth is that God does love us with an unfailing love. "This is how God showed His love among us: He sent his one and only Son in to the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).

God has come and has shown His love for us. He seeks to save the parts of our hearts that doubt His love due to our fears, forgetfulness, shame, ignorance, hardness and hurts. He reaches out and shows us His love through His Word and through our circumstances.

Isaiah 54:10 says, "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you."

Regardless of what the daisy of childhood may have told us or is telling us, and regardless of what the enemy of our souls is whispering to us (or screaming to us!) we need to believe what God’s Word tells us, to be true. And if we are willing to look at the experiences that God has given us, we will see how He is actively expressing His love for us. He loves us. He loves us. He loves us. We need not doubt.