"I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry again, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty...All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and who ever comes to me I will never drive away."
                                                                          John 6:35-37

One of the most common emotions related to faith is guilt.  We feel that who we are and what we've done is such that we are unworthy of forgiveness.  So we stray away from God and get stuck in our guilt.

But I want to argue that guilt may be one thing that stands in the way of faith, but shame is the number one impediment to a real and lasting faith in our lives.

Guilt diminishes us and makes us afraid.  We feel that what comes around goes around and we will be eventually judged for our sin.

Shame on the other hand completely eviscerates us.  It causes us to feel like we are invisible to ourselves and those around us.  I feel shame for many things I have done in my life and would share most of them with no one.  But they plague me and I feel less than whole.  Paranoia is intensified shame and we feel like crawling into a fetal position.

Shame involves more than sin.  It tells us that we are unacceptable as we are and there is no point to having faith in our lives.  We all have shame.  Things we hide from even the closest around us.  We feel shame for things we have done in relationships, thoughts and feelings we have had and actions that we would rather die over than make public.

Shame is the deevil's greatest tool in keeping us away from the healing love of God.  If we are so embarrassed by our behavior, thoughts or feelings we won't take them to God because they will ultimately be judged.

But God has a heart for those who struggle with shame.  It was shame that caused God to clothe Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  They knew they were naked and God provided the cure. 

We need to take our shame before God.  The scripture says He will never drive us away but will be a loving shepherd.  My mental illness often causes me shame because it makes me feel defective and less than others.  But it is in the midst of my delusions, paranoia and hallucinations that I lay myself bare before God.  He accepts the life I have to give to him.  He knows my limitations, foul ups and wreckless behavior and he will not drive me away.  Every time I feel like I have hit a new bottom I go to Him and He lifts me.

No matter what your shame.  No matter what has happened in your life, God will not drive you away.  He will help you to be visible again and He will wash clean the darkness is your life.  But you have to go to him bare.  You have to lay it out there.  When you come to terms with it.  God will come to terms with it and He will lead you out of your shame.

The unspeakable for us is knowable and forgiveable by God.  It is not rocket science.  What you hold back holds you back.  So today let us search the darkest reaches of our hearts and lay our shame before God.  He will heal it.  He will help us to live with it.  And He will show us a way out of it.  God is the good shepherd who will never drive us away.