If your friends or family new all your dirty secrets would they still accept you? Do you ever get tired of pretending you are someone you’re not? Guess what? There is someone who loves you so much that you never have to pretend around Him! In fact, He knows all your dirty secrets and it doesn’t matter to Him. Around Jesus, we should be…

Naked But Not Afraid

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. Hebrews 4:12-13 NLT

Have you ever watched the TV series Naked and Afraid? There is something about the show that is captivating to me. Not the blurred out sections or the fact that you see people’s backside. but there is just something about seeing the journey the participants take and the transformation that happens from beginning to end. What would happen if all their emotions and past mistakes were exposed? That would really be intense. I’m not suggesting that of course, but there was a couple who once endured that very thing. They were actually the very first couple and although their story is not recording on film, it is recorded in God’s Word.

The First Couple Who Were Naked and Afraid

The setting was not some remote part of the country filled with dangerous plants, animals, and elements at every turn. In fact, it was quite the opposite; this couple was placed in the middle of paradise. They didn’t need to boil water, scavenge for food, or shelter themselves from the environment. Everything they needed was provided for them. If you haven’t guessed by now, I am talking about Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan with the very thing they already had! He told them if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil then they would in fact not die as God had said but they would become like God. In the garden they were one with God. He had fellowship with them, they walked and talked together, and He shared everything with them. There was no information that God would have withheld from them if they had asked.

The real temptation was to prove they could do it on their own and not need God, meaning become god’s themselves.

This is the same trick we all still fall for today.

1. I want to do it myself.
2. I need to prove myself to others.
3. I can succeed by my own thoughts and through my own power.

Disobedience is what caused their Fear

Adam and Eve did not have clothes on before they had eaten from the tree. Why is it that they had never noticed they were naked? It was because they had nothing to hide. They knew God, they knew that God knew them, and loved everything about them. It was after they disobeyed when we read that God called out to Adam in the garden and got this response.

I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself. Genesis 3:10 NKJV

Rebellion had entered into man’s heart. God had to remove them from the garden so that they would not eat again from the Tree of Life. God was so serious about protecting them from this action He placed angels to guard the entrance of the garden. He also placed a revolving flaming sword to guard the tree. (Now that is cool! You should read that to your kids!)

God Had a Plan To Help us Overcome Shame

God created us to have fellowship with Him. Isaiah 14:27 tells us when God moves or makes a plan, no one can stop Him. It was His plan from the beginning that we would be one in fellowship with Him. God’s plan to redeem mankind from the curse man brought upon himself was to sacrifice His own life. His plan was to pay the ultimate price so that mankind never again could be convicted of this crime. All we have to do is except the pardon.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT

It was God’s plan to give up heaven, come to earth, live as a victorious man, and then die a horrific death paying the price for our  disobedience. But that wasn’t all of the plan! Because He was God, Jesus after His death, descended into hell, defeated Satan, and redeemed us from the curse of sin and death. He did all this because He loves us!

How to Overcome Shame

We still live in fear because we are not properly clothed. Instead of coming before God naked, confessing all of our sins and weaknesses, we are still trying to cloth ourselves with our own works. We try to hide ourselves from God just like Adam did in the garden. This behavior only brings defeat and shame. Do you remember this statement from above that described why Adam and Eve first did not have shame about being naked before God?

They knew God, they knew that God knew them, and loved everything about them. 

Let the work that Jesus suffered and died for do it’s perfect work in your life today!

Do you know God? Have you surrendered your life to Him?

1. You understand that you are a sinner and that you can not be good enough to redeem yourself from spiritual death.
2. You believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, and that He willingly gave His life to pay the price for your sins.
3. You have asked Him to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you from unrighteousness
4. You understand that receiving His gift of salvation is saying that your life no longer belongs to yourself but you instead are committing your life to live for Him.

If you can say these things, then it is time that you stand before Him Naked But Not Afraid!

We read above from Hebrews that we cannot hide anything from God. There are dozens of places where the Bible makes mention of this fact from Genesis to Revelation. He is the God Who Sees, He knows how many hairs are on your head, He knew you before you were even born, and He knows the desires and the intentions of your heart. There is nothing that you have ever done, thought, or said that He doesn’t already know about.

God knows all your dirty secrets and yet He still loves you!

Not only does He love you, but when He looks at you He doesn’t see your mistakes. The Bible says for those who have put their trust in Jesus, that God doesn’t see our sin when He looks at us. Just the opposite actually. When God looks at those who love Him, He sees Himself, Jesus!

Before Adam and Eve left the garden, God made the very first blood sacrifice and made them some clothes to cover their shame.

When Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, He also made it possible for us to have some new clothes We are to cloth ourselves with Christ Himself! We have a garment of praise, breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of peace. God refers to us as His children, Christ’s inheritance, who are holy, righteous, and blameless.

When you allow yourselves to stand before God naked and hiding nothing, He will bind up your wounds, bring comfort and healing, and dress you in the best clothes you have ever owned.

Overcome Shame by putting on Christ

I encourage you this week, if you are dealing with guilt and shame from your past, to meditate on these scripture until your mind has been renewed. You are not a product of your past mistakes, hurts, and wounds. You are a product of the work that Jesus did for you on the cross. Because of the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus and through our faith in Him we no longer are meant to carry guilt and shame. That was all nailed to the cross! The good news is that now we get to take off our filthy rags and instead wear all the great stuff in God’s Closet!

• • Garment of Salvation – Psalms 32:16
  • Righteousness and Holiness – Ephesians 4:24
  • Peace, Hope, and the Love of God – Romans 5:1-11
  • Holy, Chosen and Blameless –  Ephesians 1:4
  • Appointed to bear good fruit – John 15:16

Overcome shame through God’s Love

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:5 NIV

Here is a prayer for you to pray today to be set free from shame.

     Father, I love You and I know that You love me. I am thankful that You are the God Who Sees Me. I boldly come before You today because that is what Your Word tells me to do. I come boldly and ask You to search me and know me. I ask that Your Word would begin to expose the broken areas in my spirit and reveal the things that I have tried to hide out of guilt and shame. These may be things that I have done, or things that have been done to me, but  whichever they are, I no longer want them to be hidden. I know that You see them anyway. Your Word says that because Your love has been poured out for me I no longer have to carry guilt and shame. Father help me to fully receive Your love and the love that Jesus poured out on the cross. Pour Your love over my deepest wounds and regrets. I give the Holy Spirit freedom to heal me. Help me Holy Spirit to understand the way the Father sees me and the Love that Jesus has for me so that I can begin to see myself and love myself through God’s eyes. Even though I may not yet believe it, I will claim Your Word until my mind is renewed. Lord I thank You that because of Jesus and in Him I am righteous, holy, blameless, wanted, chosen, valued, essential, planned for, provided for, and cherished by You. I am a part of Your great plan to bring Your Kingdom to earth. I will no longer hide in the shadows of the lies of the enemy but will rest under the shadow of Your wings. I will soar on the wings of eagles, I will not get weary, I will join You on great exploits. I forgive those who have caused me harm and ask You Lord to bless them. I release all ideas that I have about myself that do not line up with Your Word. I praise You because You have removed my shame! In Christ I have Overcome! Amen

Let me know how God used this word in your life! We make Him known through the word of our testimony!

Blessings from our family to yours,

Madaline