I remember the countless mornings of waking up feeling like a failure before my day even started. I couldn’t focus on the new mercies of God, because of the deafening regrets of what I did or didn’t do the day before. I was a Christian, yes. I begged for forgiveness, yes. But the shame was still there because I was stuck in a negative mindset that held me captive for years.

Thoughts of condemnation ran rampant throughout my mind because I felt unworthy of the forgiveness that was made available to me through the cross. God put an undeserved punishment on His innocent Son for me; a person who willingly disobeyed even when I had the choice to make the right decision, and the shame from that consumed me.

Mark 7:13 tells us that the traditions of man make the word of God ineffective. The definition of Tradition, in a nutshell, is: “The handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another”. So because I grew up with the pivotal people in my life expressing their feelings of being unworthy of God’s love, I developed the same oppressive mindset. Yes, a mindset (or a way of thinking), can be a tradition. Actions always start with a thought and we often use the excuse of always thinking or doing something a certain way to keep from changing, which often just exemplifies ignorance.

A big problem with Christians is that we stay stuck in a “cross” mentality. Although the cross was the provided means for salvation, we were never meant to stay there. Kenneth Hagin explains it this way, “The cross is actually a place of defeat, whereas the Resurrection is a place of triumph. When you preach the cross, you’re preaching death and you leave people in death. We died all right, but we’re raised with Christ. We’re seated with Christ in the place of authority in heavenly places.”

So how does this all tie into Mark 7:13? Here is a prime example of traditional thinking vs. the effectiveness of God’s Word in someone’s life: Even though the Bible clearly states that regardless of whether or not I deserved Christ’s sacrifice, it still happened. It’s a gift that has our name written all over it, yet if we choose not to unwrap it, it’s ineffective in our life.

For another example, Ephesians Chapter 2 tells us that because God is rich in mercy, we have been saved from His judgment. It also says in verse 6 that when we believed and accepted His salvation, He raised us up from a spiritual death and seated us in heavenly places next to Christ Jesus. So the truth is, shame should never have any power over us because we have now been given the same authority and power that raised Christ from the dead. We are now a co-heir to the Kingdom of God and there is now no condemnation in Christ, but if we stay stuck in our old way of thinking, those are simply words on a page and are ineffective in our life.

You will never live up to your fullest potential while staying entangled in the thorns of shame. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have the authority to dismantle any corrupt thoughts or opinions about yourself that doesn’t line up with the truth. This dismantling is done by using the truth itself, the Word of God, to renew your mind. If you aren’t saved, you should never come to Christ out of shame or condemnation but rather by an understanding of the love that God so deeply has for you.

My prayer is that you begin to understand and fully experience the width and length and depth of God’s love for you so that you can kick shame out of your life for good. Who cares if you messed up? Even if it was 5 minutes ago, it’s still in the past. Make the decision to do the next right thing and use your status as a child of God to change the world around you; starting with you.