Next up on my list for the beach this past week, I really enjoyed UNASHAMED by Christine Caine. I also read her books UNSTOPPABLE and UNDAUNTED on other beach trips, so it only seemed appropriate to take Christine back to the beach with me! I look forward to Christine’s writing and have also enjoyed her speaking as it points straight to the truth of God’s word as it relates to the realization that God created us on purpose with a plan for our lives…His glory and our good. I had a chance to read this book for free as a result of a blogger review program I have the privilege of participating in. I’ll definitely purchase a few copies of this book to share with friends in need of encouragement and a reminder to keep our eyes fixed on Him.
I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…
- Shame does that. It whispers lies to your soul.
- You and I were created to reflect God’s image. Do you know what that makes you and me? Not shame-bearers, but image-bearers of God himself. We were not designed to bear shame.
- I put it this way: Guilt is about my do. Shame is about my who.
- God sees. He knows. He forgives. He redeems. And he restores—regardless of what you have done, or of what has been done to you. He is calling to you to come out of hiding and into his grace—his unconditional acceptance. He has loved you . . . always. So much so that he sent his only Son, Jesus, to pay the price for your salvation—which includes your freedom from shame (John 3:16). Believing that love—believing he loves you—is opening up your heart to your healing and freedom that he purchased through his death, burial, and resurrection.
- God’s light is tender, not harsh. As you trust him with your pain, he will gently shine his healing light on all your wounds. He is for you, not against you—and will never shame you or humiliate you (Romans 8:31). That kind of treatment is not in his nature. He is good, merciful, and kind. He didn’t cause your pain, but he’s ready to help you through it. Jesus paid for your guilt
- I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. Deuteronomy 30:19–20
- What I didn’t understand then was that the great weight I felt lifted from my shoulders was the weight of shame that had fled now that the light of truth had been shined into all of the dark corners where it had been hiding. The freedom I suddenly felt was the freedom from shame’s slavery that God had been calling me to for some time.
- There is a place of divine tension between where we’ve been set free from shame and are flourishing, and where we are still being freed from shame and harboring it inside.
- Hurt people hurt people, but helped people help people. • Broken people break people, but rebuilt people build people. • Shattered people shatter people, but whole people restore people. • Damaged people damage people, but loved people love people. • Wounded people wound people, but healed people bind up wounds. • Bound people bind people, but freed people lead others to freedom.
- I start every morning filling my mind with the Word of God. I need to remind myself of what God says about me and every circumstance in life. When I am armed with the truth of his Word, I am able to contend with the onslaught of fear, doubt, insecurity, negativity, and lies that the enemy hurls at me daily.
- When the past screams . . . You are hopeless. You are useless. You’re not good enough. You’ll never measure up. Tell yourself the truth . . . • I am alive with Christ. (Ephesians 2:5) • I am a new creature in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) • I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21) • Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4) • It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20) • I am greatly loved by God. (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 2:4; Colossians 3:12) • I can do all things through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:13) • I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ for good works. (Ephesians 2:10) • I am more than a conqueror through him who loves me. (Romans 8:37).
- The writer of Hebrews tells us to look to God, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, emphasis added).
- “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
- In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:4–6
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”