It took me a long time to feel like I was a child of God. Honestly, I didn’t even know I could be a child of God. I simply believed that I repented of my sins, accepted Jesus into my heart, and then waited till I went to heaven! I never understood what lay between salvation and meeting Jesus in heaven.
So much lies in the in-between!
What held me back from receiving that I was a child of God was doubt, guilt, shame, and unbelief. I saw the Bible as a source of condemnation rather than a place of absolute, holy love.
Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
You see, condemnation, shame, guilt, and fear held me back from even reading the Bible. The thoughts of all the ways people hurt me, and the ways I hurt others, held me back from the pages of Scripture that tell me I am forgiven, loved, and redeemed.
When I opened the pages of the Bible, my heart was overwhelmed by the love of Jesus. I couldn’t put the Bible down. In the Spirit, He opened up a whole new world to me that I had never seen before. Now, I can’t turn back.
Now, all the shame, guilt, lies, condemnation, and fear no longer hold space in my thoughts. I hold onto the truth in 1 John 3:1 (NKJV):
1 John 3:1 (NKJV)
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”
What is holding you back?
Do guilt and shame rear their ugly head?
Jesus says otherwise!
Will you believe Him over the lies?
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