JUL 28 2019 | Guests | Shame: Am I Bad?

Sea Change Church · Guests · "Shame: Am I Bad?" Pastor Rondi Pogue · July 28, 2019
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Well, hey, I'm excited to have a friend of mine preach today. Rondi Pogue is one of the missionaries that we support and runs Unveiling, which is a ministry that reaches out to women to help unveil the lies that our culture puts upon them. It started out with a conference for young people and for teenage girls and then has expanded into India, has expanded into the prisons. She's currently working in two of the, excuse me, local jails in Las Colinas and then down up in the Vista Jail as well.

Rondi and I met about 15 years ago. She was in her early 20s and we lost our youth pastor. It was, we had about, I don't know, probably 100 kids in the group and she was just an intern at the time, not just an intern, but an intern. And they basically, the executive pastor came to her and said, until we find a new youth pastor, which probably took six months, you're the new pastor. So 24, no experience, jumped in and started running the youth group.

We became friends and I continued to watch her life. I did say to her one day that my daughter, she's known my daughter since they were very young. Lily was like two, I think, when we met. And I said, you know, one day when my daughters grow up, I want them to be like you. And there's not many women that I would say that to, although I am surrounded by a lot of great women and very strong women. I would love having strong, powerful voices from women here at this church.

But when we were at the church together, we were on staff about 10 years together, a lot of laughter and jokes and things like that. But one day, Rondi shared at the devotional for the entire staff, about 35 of us had joined on a Wednesday. And she began to share from a different place than just getting a verse. She began to speak about an eating disorder that she was currently struggling with. It wasn't something that she had overcome.

And she spoke and it was heavy, but then everybody kind of just got up and left. And I kind of thought to myself, like, something just happened there. But it seems like everyone just got up and went to go get bagels. You know what I mean? It was kind of interesting. I'm not sure we knew how to deal with that at the time. But you continued to stay on staff. And she kind of disappeared for about three years. I didn't really see you much.

Kind of stayed in your office, did your thing, did your Sunday thing. But about four years later, three to four years later, she came out of that time with a vision for this thing called unveiling, which is this really powerful work that she'll share about today. She's had conferences here. We had a conference here last year. There was, as she'll mention, there was not a seat that was not filled with a teenage girl who was here and reaching out to that.

Rondi is a good friend. She's a good friend of our church. I'm proud to have her be one of our missionaries. I'm proud to have her in the pulpit. I want you to know that no one takes it. As long as I'm here, no one takes this pulpit unless I feel like God has said you can give that pulpit to them to speak the word of truth. They have to represent our values and who we are. Rondi definitely does that. Let's welcome Rondi Poga.

Good morning. Thank you for having me. And I want to thank you as a church for your support. And like Adam said, the conference where you guys opened your doors last year. I just got back from India two weeks ago and one of the high school girls I took with me actually came to the conference. And she was sharing her testimony in India and part of her testimony was coming to the conference here at your church. And one of the speakers spoke something that has radically changed her life.

So God has used your church in our ministry. And I want to say thank you. I also want you to know before I jump in that I teach out of a place of what God is teaching me. That I don't come up here and teach you and go, here are my ways. I want to teach you my ways of what I know and what Jesus knows. No, I'm learning this right alongside of you. And the person that it convicts the most is me. So as Adam said, when I was 25 years old, I went into recovery for an eating disorder that I had had starting when I was really little, actually in elementary school.

And it's very normal in recovery to have setbacks. And one night I was struggling. I wanted to turn my old ways because that was easier. And I did. I gave in. And instantly what came over me were these voices that said, you're not enough. You're never going to do this. You're back at square one, even though I wasn't. You might as well give up. I felt disgusted. I was embarrassed. Right? All this shame overcame me. And unfortunately, it didn't just turn into one time.

It turned into four days of reverting back to my old ways. Until I could get back on my feet with the help of my therapist and my counselors and my psychiatrists and my doctors and my team around me to help me. Well, a couple weeks went by and the struggle came again. And I wanted to again go to my old ways. And I gave in again. And shame started to come around. And then I had a vision. And I can distinctly remember where I was.

I live in North County. And at the time, I lived in Encinitas on Moonlight Beach with some girls. And no one was home. I was in the family room. And I was facing the south. The ocean was to my right. And I remember I had this vision of a track. A running track. And I was on the ground in a ball. I was injured. And I believe that injury was representing how I was emotionally feeling. And then all of a sudden, I heard this still small voice.

And it said, it's okay. Learn from the situation. Don't look back. Get up. Let me help you. And this hand reached out and helped me up. And we started running the track together. And it was Jesus. You see, these two situations, two very different things happened. Because after that second situation, I chose the high road. I stopped. And I didn't continue in it for four days. So the first situation was full of shame. Full of disgust.

Full of hopelessness. And the second situation was full of hope. And life. And truth. And it led to two very different roads. And that's what we're going to talk about today. Is shame. What is shame? How to deal with shame? How does God respond to shame? All of that is going to be answered today. But before we jump in, I want to define it. Because sometimes I think we know. Or I think I know what something is. Until I hear the definition.

So it will be up on the screen. Here's the definition of shame. Self-hate. Embarrassment. And a painful feeling of humiliation. Caused by foolish behavior. Fear and shortcomings. So now let's look at the difference between guilt and shame. Because a lot of times those can get blurred. And we don't know the difference. We can't figure out what is what and what's okay. So shame says I am bad. And if we look at my situation of when I screwed up.

Right? I felt bad. I felt like I was back at square one. I was disgusted. I was embarrassed. All of that. The second situation. I was guilty. I did something bad. And that's what guilt is. Is it's simple. The fact that you violated the law. So a little bit over a year ago. I had jury duty. Up in Vista. I went. I got picked as a juror of this huge murder case that was on TV. So what do we do as a jury? We take the facts that are presented.

We put them next to the law. And we determine. So we did that. We went back to deliberation for several days. And we came back out. And we said we find the defendant guilty. A second degree murder. That's it. We're just taking the facts and the law to say she is guilty. That's what guilt is. It's the simple fact that you violated man's law. God's law. Whatever it may be. And I will say this. I didn't think that woman was a bad woman.

And it's a long story that I can tell another time. But since that trial. I've actually met the woman in prison. And she's not a bad woman. She made a lot of poor decisions. That led to the murder of someone. But she's an incredible woman. So that's the difference between guilt and shame. Shame removes hope. Shame destroys us. Pulls us down. Guilt simply says. I violated the law. So what's the problem with shame? Why are we even talking about shame?

Well the problem is that it comes from Satan. John 10.10 says. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. That's what shame does. Again you look at my situation. And what happened when I felt shame. I was hopeless. And that's a scary place to be. Right? I was defeated. I was embarrassed. And that led to four days. And the only reason I think I got back on my feet. Was because the family I had around me to help me.

So shame absolutely comes from Satan. It does not benefit us at all. Well I want to look into God's word. And look at two different stories. We're going to look at how does God respond to shame. When we shame ourselves. Because we'll do that. And then how does Jesus respond to shame. When other people are shaming us. Because that's going to happen as well. So we're going to start out in Genesis 3. Verse 1 through 13.

I'll read it and it will be up on the screen. The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals. That the Lord God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked. Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden? The woman answered. God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden. Except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat the fruit from that tree. Or even to touch it. If we do we will die.

No you won't. The snake replied. God understands what will happen on the day that you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done. And you will know the difference between right and wrong. Just as God does. The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her. And she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her. So she gave some to him. And he ate it too.

Right away they saw what they had done. And they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves. Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow. And the man and the woman heard the Lord God walking in the garden. And they were frightened and hid behind some trees. The Lord called out to the man and asked. Where are you? The man answered. I was naked. And when I heard you walking through the garden.

I was frightened and hid. How did you know that you were naked? God asked. Did you eat any fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden? It was the woman. You put her with me. The man said. She gave me some of the fruit and I ate it. The Lord God then asked the woman. What have you done? The snake tricked me. She answered. And I ate some of the fruit. So looking at that story. Probably a very familiar story. Sin. When sin entered the world.

Shame entered the world. And the first thing that Adam and Eve did. Was they covered. They hid. And then they blamed. We are still doing the same thing today. When we sin. When we feel shame. We cover. We hide. And we blame. And that may be. We cover and hide behind food. Or TV. Or sleeping. Or addictions. Right? Any kind of addiction that we hide behind. But we are no different than Adam and Eve. And the thing I noticed as I was studying this story.

Is that. I never noticed before how natural it was. For Adam and Eve to feel shame. You see in life. We catch things. Meaning. I don't know if you've ever said this. Or heard someone say this. Wow. I sound just like my mother. Right? Because we catch things. People do things. My aunt. She always says. Oh sugar. Like if she was to drop something. Or whatever. And anytime I'm around her. And she leaves. I start saying that.

Right? We catch things. So we catch shame from each other. We catch shame from society. Telling us we should be ashamed of this. Or that. Or what not. But Adam and Eve didn't have that. They were the only human beings at the time. So what does that tell us? It's natural. Not only are we going to catch it. But we also are naturally going to have shame come on us. So we are going to have to fight against this. And I'll be honest.

As I was studying this. I thought. I don't. I don't really struggle with shame. And the more I studied it. The more I realized. It's actually such a natural part of my life. I don't even realize the shame that I carry. And the shame that I listen to and believe. So we're going to have to fight against shame. But what did God do? God didn't turn his back on them. God didn't shake his finger at them. Right? And think of this.

Adam and Eve were perfect. In a perfect world. They just doomed all of humanity. Right now we pay the consequence of Adam and Eve. Don't you think God had every right to shame them? Out of anyone? I feel like he absolutely could have shamed them. But he didn't. Instead he walked towards them. He stepped into the shame. He stepped into the mess. The secrecy. The silence. He stepped towards it. He didn't turn a blind eye.

He didn't turn his back. He wasn't passive aggressive. Right? And he stepped into it. And then what did he say? Where are you? Now we know that God knew where they were at. But he asked them that because he wanted to invite them out of shame. He wanted to invite them into healing. Into abundant life. And the first step of overcoming something. What do you have to do? You have to admit that you have a problem. You have to admit that you need to overcome it.

And that's exactly what God was doing. He was saying where are you? So they would admit and come out of that lifestyle. That's how God responds to shame. That's how God is responding to us. And our sin. And our ugliness. And our secrecy. And our messiness. He walks towards you. And he invites you out. You guys. That is an amazing God. Like I said. I go to India two times a year. I've been there nine times. And the Hindu religion is prominent over there.

And that this is the complete opposite of what Hinduism is like. There is fear of their God. There is fear of what's going to happen to them. We were driving a couple years ago down a road. And our driver went down the road. Turned around. Came back. And then turned around and went back down. And I looked at him and I said. Sharif. Why did you do that? And he said. Oh black cat. Black cat. You don't want to pass a black cat.

Because of what that God might do to you. And yet we have a God. Who just gives us his love. And steps in to the ugliness. And the shame. And invites us out. So next let's look at how Jesus responded. To when people were shaming someone else. We're going to look at the story of the adulterous woman. In John 8. 1 through 11. Everyone else went home. But Jesus walked out to the Mount of Olives. Then early the next morning.

He went to the temple. The people came to him. And he sat down and started teaching them. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who was not her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. Then they said teacher. This woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn't her husband. The law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death.

What do you say? They asked Jesus this question because they wanted to test him. And bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over. And started writing on the ground with his finger. They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally he stood up and said. If any of you have never sinned. Then go ahead and throw the first stone at her. Once again he bent over. And began writing on the ground. The people left one by one.

Beginning with the oldest. Finally Jesus and the woman were there alone. Jesus stood up and asked her. Where is everyone? Isn't there anyone left to accuse you? No sir. The woman answered. Then Jesus told her. And I'm not going to accuse you either. You may go now. But don't sin anymore. Here's what I love. Is Jesus protected the dignity of this woman in public. And then privately dealt with her. And I believe that's what he wants to do in our life.

Unfortunately sometimes. Because of our own mess. It gets exposed publicly. But that's not the heart of God. Right? He told the people shaming her. Okay basically. You know that whole verse that says. You're trying to get the splinter out of someone else's eye. And you got a two by four in yours. Right? He's saying. Okay you can go. And he had every right for her to be stoned. He had every right to throw a stone at her.

And yet he didn't. Right? And so this story is about shaming other people. And how Jesus deals with him. And I'm going to get real honest here. So. Actually just this last week. It might have been Thursday. I went to Sprouts. And you know they have those big bins. Where you can get like. Granola or flour or candy or whatever. I walked in the store. The La Costa one. I walked in. And there were some kids. Stealing with their little hands.

Stealing the gummy worms. And I gave them the look of death. I was like. Oh my gosh. And their eyes got big. And they all stopped. And they ran off. Right? It totally shamed them. And then I judged their mother. I was like. Where is their mother? I know. I know. Sorry. Sorry. I'm working on it. So on the drive home. God was like. What are you teaching on this weekend? And I was like. Dang it. I totally did it. And to be honest.

It took me a couple days to think through. How. How could I have handled that? Because shame is not of God. But they were guilty. And they shouldn't have been sticking their dirty fingers. Like. How do I do this? And I just. What. The conclusion I came to. After really processing it. Was. I should have just gone to them. And said. You know what? You shouldn't be taking those. You need to pay for them. And maybe I should have offered.

Can I buy you some? Right? That was not. My natural reaction. Maybe next time. Let's hope for next time. But shame is very easy. To do on other people. Right? We become passive aggressive. We become silent. We turn our back. We control them. Right? All these different things. And here's this woman. Who had sinned. And what did Jesus do? Just what his father did. He stepped in. To the shame. He stepped in. To the messiness.

He stepped in. To the ugliness. In the midst. Of her. Sin. And he met her. Where she was at. And I think that's one of the most beautiful things. That God does. He meets us. Where we're at. I remember years ago. Up at North Coast. There's a Sunday night service. And I went. And I walked in the back. And there was a girl. And what I felt like was inappropriate shorts. She was wearing. And I remember thinking. How could she?

This is a church. You know. Like righteous Rondi. Like getting all fired up. And I remember God going. What if this is her first time to church. And she said she'd never come. I'll get there with her. You deal with your own stuff. And I was like. Got it. So. You know. It's. We do this. It's so easy to do. But. What I love is that God taught me. And that was like. I'm going to meet her where she's at. I'll deal with her clothing.

But she's in a church. Maybe that's a big deal. You don't know. So God. Or Jesus met this woman. Right where she was at. He met her at eye level. He touched her. He loved her. He embraced her. But I think a part that we skim over in life. He addressed her sin. Right. We don't like to look at that. Why did he address her sin? Because it leads to destruction. Not just for her. It leads to destruction for her family. And her family to come.

God says that. Your sins affect your generations to come. Right. I didn't finish John 10 10 earlier. That says the thief comes. Only to steal kill and destroy. And I have come that you may have life. And life to the full. And so he wanted her out of that sin. To have that abundant life. And he knew. That sin didn't lead to that. So he met her. He addressed the sin. He loved her. And he sent her on her way. You guys. I don't know of a God that does this.

I don't even do this with other people. Yet perfect. Righteous. Holy. God does this with us. It's amazing. I'm going to show you a quick video clip. And it's actually this scripture. Of what I just read. But the reason I'm showing it to you. Is because I saw it years ago. And it really rocked me. To see this lived out. And to see how Jesus responded. I show this a lot to the women in the prison. Because I think we all have different views.

Of who Jesus is. And I want them to physically see. How he responds in our ugliness. Especially when they're in prison or jail. They're feeling down and out. Right. They're feeling their worst. And so I want them to see. Here is how God responds to you. Watch this quick video. That's the goal. The law commands us. To stone such a woman. What do you say? It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap.

It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. It's a trap. mana. It's a trap. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. How beautiful is that? Right? That God would embrace her, lift her chin, kiss her on the forehead, and send her on her way to life full of hope and abundant life. You see, God doesn't shame us because he knows shame doesn't work. I have people who have shamed me in my life and some very recently. And guess what I do? I walk the other way. God knows that's what we're going to do. Satan knows that's what is going to happen.

So that's why he shames us. It's because it pushes us away from God. It pushes us away from people who shame us. So he doesn't do that. One of my favorite verses is Romans 2, 4. That says that God's loving kindness leads us to repentance. That always amazes me. That God will overwhelm you with his love, with his kindness, with his goodness to lead you back to him. I don't deserve that. I deserve the cold shoulder. I deserve to be stoned.

And yet he says, no, I'm going to overwhelm you with my kindness and love to draw you back. And that's how he takes rid of that shame. Right? He gets rid of it by loving us and showing us his kindness. So he's thinking through how do companies advertise to us? Do they shame us into buying their product? And I was thinking through, no, I don't think so. Because I haven't seen a commercial that comes up. Right? I get home after work.

I'm sitting on the couch eating my chips or whatever. And a commercial comes on. And hey, fatty on the couch. Yeah, you. You? Pants are getting a little tight. You should have gone to the gym after work. You didn't. Right? And you should probably buy our shoes to get out there. Because this is a very active city and you're not. Right? What does that make me want to do? It makes me want to go grab the Oreos. Right? It makes me want to do the complete opposite when I am shamed.

So instead, what do they do? They inspire us. They believe in us. They champion us. And we go, yeah. I can run a marathon. I could do it tomorrow. You know? Maybe not logical. But they inspire us and challenge us. And then we go buy the product. So watch this quick commercial. Greatness. Greatness. Greatness. It's just something we made up. Somehow we've come to believe that greatness is a gift reserved for a chosen few.

For prodigies. For superstars. For superstars. And the rest of us can only stand by watching. You can forget that. Greatness is not some rare DNA strand. It's not some precious thing. Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing. We're all capable of it. All of us. I don't know about you, but I like to run. I don't do it super often. I feel like that kid when I'm running. Right? If you were to see me, I feel like I look like that.

I mean, it's just tough. But I love that commercial that believes in me and says, Hey, greatness is in you. We all have greatness. They champion us. They inspire us. They believe in us. And that makes me want to get out and run. And go, I don't care if it's an 18 minute mile. Right? I'm out there running the race. I'm not giving up like that kid. I'm slow and steady. But I'm out there. You guys, that's who God is. That's how God responds to us.

So what do we do with this now? We've learned what shame is. We learned that shame is not from God. We learned what it does. Right? It takes us in this downward spiral where we bring in other addictions and we turn to things we shouldn't. But what do we do if we're experiencing shame? We're going to do three things. And it's the complete opposite of Adam and Eve. Again, they covered, they hid and they blamed. So we're going to destroy it.

We're going to expose it. And we're going to own it. So we're going to destroy it. We're going to give the shame back to Satan. And we're going to reject it and say no. Because shame comes from hell. And so we're going to say, Satan, you can take that shame back to hell where it belongs. No more. And I learned a couple years ago that there's something really powerful about physically acting on it. So when I go to India, I take young women with me.

And we go over there and they teach women, young women, their same age over there. And what we have them do is write down the lies and shame they believe, crumpled up, throw it away. And then we give them a replacement, a card with truth. So maybe that's what you do. But what I learned, and to be honest, I did this last night in my kitchen. I was struggling with some lies. And I just pretended like I grab them from my mind.

And I say, no, Satan. And there's just something powerful about that. And then I started speaking the truth out loud over myself. And it's so important to speak the truth because guess what? Satan can't hear it if you think it. Satan is not like God. So we have to speak this stuff out loud. We have to tell him to leave. We have to speak the truth out loud. Not only do we then hear it, but that's how we get rid of Satan.

So we're going to destroy it. The second thing we're going to do is we're going to expose it. We're going to bring it to the light and admit it to God. Because again, the first step to overcome something, you have to admit it. And things grow exponentially in secrecy and silence. Why? Because they're in the darkness and Satan is darkness. So we have to bring them to the light. And there's no shame. I actually have more respect for people when they come to me and they tell me the things they struggle with.

Right? I'm my landlord up where I live. Years ago, she came up to my house. I live on her property. And she shared something that was kind of gnarly. But there was no shame. I had the greatest respect for this woman who could bring it to the light. And not be embarrassed by it. And that's what we need to do. And then the third is we need to own it. We need to confess it to someone safe in our life. And don't wait for the right moment.

Right? Because the right moment will probably never come. Don't wait for you to feel comfortable. You might not. So sometimes you just need to be strong and courageous like God calls Joshua on us. And just blurt it out. Because we've got to have people to help us. Right? We need to bring it to the light. So the three things, we're going to destroy it. Give it back to Satan. We're going to expose it. Bring it to the light.

And admit it to God. And the third, we're going to own it. And we're going to confess it to someone. That's how we remove shame from our lives. See, I'm really passionate about this topic. Because this is what unveiling is all about. And I know Adam mentioned that. But I obviously struggled with lies in my own life. And women, all of us, but I'm going to talk about women. We are bombarded with lies that we're not enough.

We're not thin enough or pretty enough or athletic enough or tall enough or youthful enough. The list just goes on and on. And we are bombarded with these lies. But the problem is they're not just simple lies. They're wrapped in shame. And so these girls hear these lies. And then they are disgusted of themselves. They are embarrassed. They don't want to leave the house. They take their own lives because of how they look.

It's not a simple lie. And so some of the things they might hear, and maybe some of us hear, is there's no hope for you. You've tried this before, and you can't do it. You'll never change. Look at so-and-so. They tried. They couldn't do it. You're a loser. You're a mistake. You should not exist. You're not enough. You're a disappointment. You're worthless. You're a waste of time. You won't amount to anything. You'll never make it.

You're a failure. You see, those are the lies that we're trying to combat with girls that I think we all struggle with at some point or time. And again, it's so hard for me to see them in my life because I've believed them for so long. And so I'm continually having to ask God, show me the shame. Show me the lies I believe. But I want to share now the truth with you that we now bombard back. Right? If they're going to be bombarded, then we're going to bombard them back with truth to remind them who they are.

They are chosen, and you're chosen. And God did not have to choose you. I think sometimes we think, oh, God had to. No, he didn't. He wanted to choose you. He wants you in his life. He wants to be a part of your life. You're seen. The hurts, the struggles, the worries, the fears, the dreams, it's all seen by God. You're known. You're accepted. God knows every thought, word, deed, and attitude of yours, and he still accepts us.

You're redeemed, and you will continue to be redeemed. I always say there's nothing in my life, to be honest, I would take back. I'm so sorry for the people I hurt, and I wish that never happened. But because God has redeemed everything in my life and used it for good, it's hard for me to say I regret it. You're redeemable, and you'll continue to be redeemable. You're capable. You are able to do more than you could ever think or imagine through Christ.

You're good looking, because God doesn't create junk, and that's a big lie around here. You know, I was raised here, and it took me moving out of Encinitas to realize, wow, people don't look like this other places. Right? The pressure is real here. It's hard. My dad and I had an honest conversation a couple years ago about how Encinitas was the hardest place to be raised. And I know it sounds funny, but the pressure is so real of what to look like that that is part of my journey of what led me to an eating disorder.

It's not what the rest of the world looks like. The expectation is not real. You're pursued. And we saw that this morning. God in Jesus pursues us in our shame, in our sin, in our messiness and ugliness and secrecy and silence. They step in. They lean in. You have a God who pursues you. Even if you curse God and push him away, he pursues you. You are a child of God. And here's one of my favorites. You are a friend of God.

Being a child of God is amazing to me, but to think that God says, no, I want you as my friend, though. That's amazing. You have purpose that no one else can fulfill. Your influence, your sphere of influence, no one else in the world has. And you have a very specific calling and purpose on your life that only you can live out. You are royalty. And this one, maybe it sounds cheesy and I get it. Growing up, I was always told, you're a princess of God.

And I'd roll my eyes. But a couple of years ago, God said, no, I really want you to think about this. I want you to live it out. Am I the king of kings? And so guess what? Meghan Markle has got nothing on me. Right? I want you to live it out. I want you to live it out. Right? Because my father is the king of kings. And what if I truly believe that and walk with the confidence and yet humility that the odds are stacked in my favor because my God, my father, my friend is the king of kings.

And he is yours as well. And you are unconditionally loved. I have conditions on my love. I'll be honest. I'm trying to be like Jesus and not, but it's hard. And you have a God who loves you unconditionally. You see, this is the truth I want to let you know this morning so you can get rid of the shame. And this is the truth that we speak over women in prison in Mexico, in India, here locally to remind everyone who they are.

And the thing I want to leave you with is this. God is not ashamed of you. He has never been ashamed of you. And he will never be ashamed of you. He wants to step into your life and join you in the messiness and help you rid yourself of the shame and walk into the abundant life. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much. That you are a God who does not turn your cold shoulder to us. That you don't silence yourself. You're not passive aggressive.

You don't walk away. You don't strike us. But you step in. You lean in. And we want to say thank you. And we ask that the world would see that in us. I think our world is seeing a very different Jesus these days. And we ask that they would see this Jesus in us. One who loves. One who listens. One who embraces the messiness. And sits with people in it. And invites them into healing. So may we be people who do that for others.

And may you show us where we are living in shame. Would you open the eyes of our heart. Open our eyes and our ears to see where are we living in shame. And where are we shaming other people. And as you do over and over. Would you gently and kindly reveal it to us. And then give us the tools and the strength and the wisdom to know how to get rid of it. How to fight it. We ask for your help. We know it's something natural that's going to come on us.

And so we need your help to get rid of the shame. And to walk in freedom. In grace. In love. In kindness. And again we just say you are an amazing God. We thank you. Thank you for your love. We love you. And we pray this in the holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.