When Good News Is Painful
When I was a kid, as Christmas came near I always looked forward to getting new toys. One year my mom said for every new toy I received, I had to give up one of my old toys. What a dichotomy for an 8 year old to face! I didn't want to give up my old toys. I liked my old toys. I wanted to keep them and introduce my new toys to the old toys. But my mom knew we only had so much space. My mom also knew it would give me opportunity to truly enjoy and appreciate those new toys that much more. It sure was good news to hear I would be getting new toys, but the pain came when I had to physically remove the old ones. In order to bring in the new, I had to purge the old.
When we approach the Christmas season, I think it’s important to remember WHY Jesus came. He didn’t come just to be a cute little baby in a manger.
Jesus came down in human form for one main purpose- give God’s redemption to us.
Jesus welcomed outcasts and lost people and he rejected the culture of this world. Through his life he sacrificed himself to take on the punishment we deserve for our sins, our mistakes, our wrongdoings and he intentionally came to die so our lives would be changed through the free gift of salvation, which brings with it eternal life.
If we’re honest, most of us don’t take ownership over our thoughts and actions until pushed to for various reasons. What happens is we grow comfortable in the rhythms of our life until checked by someone else along the way. If we’re empathetic and rational, we might consider it. When we’re in our sin, living by our own desires, it’s difficult— near impossible— for us to see how far in the hole we truly are.
It’s ONLY by the work of God’s Holy Spirit in us that turns us completely around by bringing us to a state of repentance. That’s a fancy way of saying do a 180° turn. We don’t naturally choose that on our own. God enacts our repentance when we turn to him. When that happens, it hurts. In short, it hurts because we have this mirror up to our face with all the bad things we’ve done in our life and feel the shame of how we’ve treated others, ourselves, and God. In length and a little more colorfully, this pain is because we are finally brought to a place of sincere grief circumstanced by the conviction of now being able to see with clarity through the lens of the state of our soul.
My Anger Problem
I used to struggle with anger. I had a bad problem with anger. I was a person who went from a state of on the brink of being angry to full on fits of rage. This caused me to lose friendships, jobs, and in many ways I lost parts of my life.
Years ago, when I got myself into a "mirror in the face" situation I had to allow the pain of grief through repentance be the good news that brought healing to my soul. Now, solely because of the work of God's Spirit in me, I no longer default to anger or frustration. In most cases, it’s not even a thought. I’m not even remotely who I used to be and by the strength of Jesus Christ I have been set free.
The pain of shame that leads to repentance is a good thing. Here’s what the Bible says about it.
“Apostle Paul wrote, ‘I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.’”
You see, Paul is saying here that godly grief that moves us to repent leads us to be saved from the sin that heavily weighs us down and eventually would lead to us dying inside. Repentance leads to salvation which leads us to experience the life only God can give.
What do you think? Are you one of the outcast, the lost, the struggling, one without purpose or identity, one with anger, do you have an addiction? Have you messed up your life so badly you believe you are unworthy to be loved or forgiven? Do you think of yourself as someone who is on the outside looking in feeling the weight and pain of sin’s shame?
The truth of God’s message says if and when you accept Jesus as your Savior today and invite him in to begin transforming your life from the inside out, you will experience true freedom. Jesus said, “so if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (John 8:36).
Remember, only by giving up the old, can we freely experience the life change of the new.
I’d love to hear from you! Send me a message to connect so I can walk with you on this journey and guide you through all the questions you have.
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