Isolation has been one of the greatest enemies of my personal growth and freedom. The lies I have believed in the past of shame, guilt and condemnation have kept me bound in darkness and chains that were unnecessary. The reality is that the Gospel of Jesus is freedom from the bonds, decisions, mistakes, and failures we have made or are currently making. I am not saying He is okay with whatever we want to do, but He is the Good Shepherd that gets into the dirt, mess and pain with us and delivers us from the inside out.

We all have things we naturally want to hide from Him and others. Countless times, I have prolonged my access to His freedom and light by hiding, running, and rebelling against Him and those He has sent into my life to help me. 1 John 1:7 (NKJV) says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The condemnation and shame was even stronger after encountering Him and being filled with His Spirit and then not guarding my heart and choosing sin time and time again. The lie of shame really keeps us from freedom because it keeps us from His light.

The light is painful at first when you have been living in the dark in an area. Many times I struggle to be honest because I have made a practice of trying to protect myself with lies. The intrusive thoughts of, “I can’t ever tell someone else I did that or this, because if I do, they will reject me and I will be alone.” I have a fear of being alone. Loneliness has driven me into many of the sin struggles I have battled with. The truth is that I have never truly been alone. Once the Lord places His hand on someone, calls their name, and pulls them out of darkness into His light, it is really hard to get away from Him. Believe me I have tried multiple times.

I have wanted to get away, having thoughts that I can never be good enough, I am too broken and have made to many mistakes. The reality is the Gospel is the great equalizer. We have all made horrible mistakes, lived in darkness, and need Him. Jesus doesn’t shy away from pain, sin and anguish. He reaches deeper beyond that. He overcomes it all with His glorious love and light. Something that has greatly helped me is looking for people I can trust that I can confess mistakes to. Going back to 1 John 1:7, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…” We need help, we need others. This can be difficult at times because sadly there are people in the Church that will speak things that reinforce the lies in our hearts and minds.

If we are open enough to look, ask Him for help, He will send help. There have been countless people that have come into my life that I admitted things to, terrified that they would reject me when they saw the mistakes I have made in the dark, only to love me still and share how they have struggled and blown it in similar ways. James 5:16 (NKJV) says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Balancing this with 1 John 1, which say, “If we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” There is confession between you and God and there is confession to others.

I have made the mistake in the past thinking that I need to constantly confess my mistakes and sins to everyone though they’ve been washed away. I had found a mistaken identity in my failure. Now if there is someone suffering and bound by shame, I will joyfully share past brokenness that Jesus has set me free from. There are people in my life who I feel safe enough with to expose my struggles or past mistakes with. It can be painful but it is very healing being able to be exposed and for light to shine on the hidden, dark areas of my life.

I want to point out that just confessing things and talking about them is not enough for freedom. The gospel and cross of Jesus Christ is where true freedom is found. He became a man, fulfilled the requirements of the Law, was sinless and perfect, He gave Himself up to be beaten, torn and crucified, died, was buried and rose again three days later. He ascended to the right hand of the Father and poured out His spirit and the Church was born. He is present right now at the Father’s side interceding. He prays for you. His blood is more powerful than any sin. His light stronger than the dark and His love is greater than all. His Spirit is here with you now.

If we let Him, He will help us. There is no more need to run or hide. He did that for you. Personally for you. There is a power when you realize that if it was only just you to die for, He still would have suffered like that. He loves you, like really loves you. He saw you in the midst of all your mess and still chose you. Think about this, when He died all your mistakes were in the future. The Bible says, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before Him in love,” (Ephesians 1:7 NKJV). He chose you and me before the foundation of the world.

There is a grace available to us to be a new creation by being born again by the Spirit of God. When we give our lives to Him, He completely washes our sin away and we enter a process of learning to walk in our new nature. I am not saying that there won’t be challenges or mistakes or hardship. But when these ties come, you will have the best Helper, Father, and Friend possible to be with you in it. He won’t leave you alone. Instead of being alone in the dark, you will be alone with the Most High.

Jesus, I pray that you touch the heart of anyone who reads this, no matter the current condition of their heart. Holy Spirit do in them what You are doing in my life. Let them feel Your love and light. Let the beauty and glory of Your countenance shine on them.