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Throw off the Rags of Shame for the Robes of Forgiveness

By Sandy Mayle

The Empress wore new clothes.

The Master Weaver had come to her one day and offered to trade new clothing—dazzling white and woven from the finest silk—for her stained and torn garments. How could she refuse?

“Yes!” she cried, and He dressed her in His finest. Now the whole crowd looked with delight on the beautifully attired Empress as she walked among them.

But the Empress didn’t see what they saw. When she looked in the mirror, she still saw herself wearing soiled rags.

She still saw herself dressed in shame.

Dispelling Shadows

Sometimes our past casts its shadow on our present. Even after we’ve trusted that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross; even after we’ve asked for and received God’s forgiveness for them; even when we’re listening to His Holy Spirit and letting Him lead.

Many of us still feel unworthiness stretches a long shadow across our soul. But lately, as I inwardly stand before the mirror and look at myself, I’m praying to see the truth. Because I don’t want to see and feel shame where there no longer is any.

Seeing God’s Love Clearly

In God’s timing, my morning Bible study had brought me to John 15:3, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” What word has He been speaking, I wondered, that made me clean?