Loved and Unashamed

Ashamed, broken, defective, damaged, trash, failure, reject, unloved, unlovable, worthless. Labels can be harsh. Who are you? What do you hear when you think about yourself? What do you believe about you? The answers to those questions determine your identity. Many of us have a poor identity. Our labels are painful to bear, and because of that, life is hard. But there is good news. Your identity can change. You can change. Life gets better, and so do you.

Let me tell you something personal. At this time in my life I have a great, new joy. I am resting in the fact that I am loved, and I am unashamed before God and others. It wasn’t always this way. Identity changes.

For most of my life I felt like I was unloved and rejected. Maybe because of struggles. Maybe because of circumstances. Only God knows for sure. But My whole life I believed that, deep down there was something wrong with me, inherently wrong. I was just off, different, never really fitting in, and never having many friends. Depression was at times a deep struggle, and never too far away. Through it all, I always hoped that it would get better, but there was a different voice. A voice that was always near, and always whispering in the background. That voice said things like, “ outcast, reject, failure, worthless.” The voice always reminded me that something was wrong with me, and that’s why I was different.

But God, as He always does, entered the scene. He broke through and destroyed the iron bands of depression, desolation, isolation, and negativity, that was embedded in my mind and heart. It turns out that the voice I believed for so long was a liar. That voice was not true or God. That voice was the enemy. The hater of my soul. There is one whose only mission is to steal, kill, and destroy. He had been deceiving me for years. A new voice entered the scene. A bigger one. A better one. All of a sudden, in a mighty rush, came the voice of Jesus, the lover of my soul. He took every lie captive, and revealed the clearer, true picture of who I am. The dam broke and like a flood, years of fear, doubt, and pain, were gone in an instant. Christ opened my eyes to see clearly. He showed me that my mistakes which I hated myself for, have been redeemed, and through them came opportunities for miracles. He spoke deep within me and said this, “there is nothing wrong with you, because I make all things new. You are my workmanship and I don’t make mistakes. You are no longer a crumbling shell, but a house whose builder and maker is God. You are special and valuable, because you are filled with Me. You are the place My Spirit has chosen to dwell. I love you, and I always have, even before the foundation of the world. Your mistakes have been washed away in the river of my blood. You are always close to Me, because I have brought you close. Your sins and iniquities I remember no more. You are mine, and that’s all that really matters. You are different because I made you that way. I made you special and unique, for a purpose only you can fulfill.”

I chose to listen to my Creator. Who could know me better? My fresh identity settled in my heart. I know now that I am loved and unashamed.
This story can be yours if you let it. Trust Jesus and let Him make you new too. Live loved and unashamed. Jesus heals the broken and binds up deep wounds. You may be broken, but broken doesn’t mean defective. Open your heart and listen. Jesus is speaking to you.