Finished with Shame and Guilt

My mother worked, assembling heaters, to support her four children. At the weekends, Mama consoled herself by drinking until she was drunk. 

On weeknights, she released her frustrations by wielding a leather belt as punishment when her children left a chore undone, argued with each other or questioned an order. Mama’s angst led to poor choices: an abusive boyfriend, isolation from her parents and other family, and drug and alcohol abuse, which eventually contributed to her death.

I continued the pattern of making poor choices, which mired me in shame and guilt. I chose alcohol and drugs over spiritual and personal development, isolation over community, taking instead of giving. I longed to be set free. One day, sitting in a cold, grey cement-block cell, I found freedom as I read about Jesus’ dying on the cross. I realised that Jesus made a choice to save me from my bad choices. The Saviour’s final words, ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30), mean that I am saved from sin and from sin’s damaging by-products: shame, guilt and anxiety.

When we truly believe this, we can be set free from the hurts, hang-ups and bad habits that keep us from becoming the people God intended us to be.