Worship Through It
A post on how worship helps to overcome guilt and shame.
We all have our sayings.
One I use almost daily with my friends describes my relationship with the Holy Spirit this way: “Girl, He came for my came for my life on...”. It is said playfully and is my best attempt to communicate how He encourages, convicts, and points me toward a life lived for Jesus. Talking with friends and hearing about their relationships with the Lord is like meeting different versions of God's personality through His interactions with His children. We're all unique, so His interactions with us will be, too. One person told me she is pretty sarcastic, so the Lord uses sarcasm to get her attention. Another person is sassy, so the Holy Spirit goes toe-to-toe with her in that way. I can be both sensitive and practical, so He delivers straightforward truths in ways that hold my heart simultaneously. It's the sweetest thing knowing that we serve a God big enough to understand and meet us in the ways we can hear Him best.
I felt led to write about dealing with shame and guilt through worship and relationship with the Holy Spirit. I've described that the Holy Spirit “comes for my life” to share how moments of conviction refine my life in Jesus. The Holy Spirit showed me how literal this statement is, as He always leads, encourages, and prompts us towards worship in our day-to-day lives by changing our hearts to reflect the heart of Jesus. My life, once submitted to Christ, is mine no longer, as I don't live on my terms or for my interests but for His glory. The Holy Spirit is all truth, and His job is to make us more holy by pointing to a life modeled after Jesus (John 14:25-26). Embracing this is worship, and so is being more sensitive to the voice of the Father—as both reflect a reverence for a relationship with Him as both a priority and need.
Furthermore, worship takes many forms and can be applied to respond to shortcomings with the right heart. When we sin, we experience distance from God. We tend to believe the lie that we have to “be better “before we come to Him when we fail. But the conviction of the Holy Spirit prompts us to confess, repent, and move on. He doesn't reprimand us through guilt or shame. These external influences compel us to follow socially acceptable norms and keep us in chains to our past by replaying what we've done wrong. God, however, is interested in working on your heart so that there is an internal decision to choose righteous living out of love for Jesus and reverence for His sacrifice for us at the cross. He doesn't replay things. When we repent with broken and contrite hearts, He forgives us (Psalm 51:17). Simple. One and done. We don't earn His forgiveness; He gives it when we ask ( 1 John 1:9).
What makes this hard to accept is that forgiveness is not our nature. It is our nature to focus on what we do to overcome and make things right instead of what He can do through us. I feel bad for my mistakes, so I meditate on why I can't be who God has called me to be, but does it point me toward a changed heart? Instead of hanging on to my shortcomings, worship acknowledges them and says I can only overcome them because of God's grace and mercy. He is the only one who can do anything about the condition of our hearts ( Ezekial 36:26).
So, what are you replaying over and over? God doesn't want us to relive things. He wants us to confess, repent, and turn toward Him so that we can live differently. Worship can help us do this because it takes the focus off of ourselves. It is behavior meant to infiltrate every area of our lives because the fruit of our hearts is in everything we do. Where the fruit of our focus is on our shortcomings, let's confess it and give it to our God because He's greater than our failings.
Your praise and worship can look like confession and a request for his help in prayer:
_Father, I made choices that have hurt ___. My heart is broken, and I know your heart breaks when I choose to sin. I confess this. My choice (s) were wrong, and I repent before you. Please forgive me. There may be consequences for my choices, and I pray for your grace and mercy to abound as I respond to those in a way that reflects that I know and love you. Even though the consequences might be difficult, I will rejoice because you are helping me grow to maturity. I praise you because you have changed my heart to care about turning from sinful things. When guilt and shame pop up, please point me to you. Help me remember that you accepted my request for forgiveness and now see me as a blameless, one cleansed from sin. Please help me to surrender whatever I am holding on to that you want me to let go of. I pray for the peace that surpasses all understanding in Christ Jesus and that I will live in a way that glorifies your name in this area and every area. You are worthy of the praise of my life, and I seek to give it to you. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.
This is worship: confession, repentance, turning to God to help you walk out your decision, and celebrating that your heart is now soft to receive His discipline, which is His love ( Hebrew 12:6). God wants your heart to change so you can experience the life and truth found only in Himself. Guilt and shame are not life sentences. Pray for sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit, who continually points us toward Jesus. Worship through relationship! He is with you ( and in you) always. He will “come for your life” because He wants you to live a powerful, fully surrendered life in Christ. Get ready!