Series:

Faithful families in an unfaithful world

Message:

Practicing love and acceptance rather

than guilt and shame

Romans 5: 1-2, 10-11; Romans 8:1 & 37

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Introduction:

We are able to practice forgiveness ONLY because we have

received forgiveness from God through our trust in Jesus Christ.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

By faith we obey God’s call to forgive and then God provides His supernatural power which

flows through us enabling us to forgive ourselves and others.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Today we consider together the truth that faithful families need

to practice the Biblical core value

of love & acceptance.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

The opposite of this love & acceptance

is guilt & shame.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

We are able to practice love & acceptance to ourselves

and to others ONLY because we have received this

love & acceptance from God in Christ.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

In Romans 5:10-11 God reveals to us the Biblical core value of

reconciliation.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Romans 5:10-11

10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the

death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by

His life.

11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus

Christ, through whom we have now received

the reconciliation.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

In Romans 8:1 & 37

God reveals to us the results of this gift of reconciliation.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Romans 8:1 & 37

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer

through Him who loved us.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Because we have been reconciled to God in Christ,

we can live in the confidence that God will never condemn us.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

We also stand in the confidence that nothing can ever separate

us from the love of God

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Our confidence in God’s eternal and unconditional love &

acceptance creates in us a desire to know God more intimately and to surrender our lives to

Him.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Just like the experience of forgiveness we can experience

the supernatural flow of God’s love & acceptance as we

by faith seek to obey His call to love others as He loved us.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

We must believe and apply fully the truth that God has

indeed forgiven us to be able to obey Him

in forgiving others.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Likewise, we must believe & fully apply

the truth of God’s love & acceptance to be able to extend

His love to others through us.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Reconciliation means to bring close one who was previously

in a position of separation from us and/or our enemy.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

God’s choice, to reconcile us to Himself, means God is bringing

us as close to Himself as possible.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Through reconciliation our life is eternally joined to God’s life

by our trusting in Jesus. We are now a member of

God’s family.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

In forgiveness we are freed from sin’s penalty, power, and one day it’s presence.

We are declared righteous by Jesus.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

This is the meaning of Justification. Justification means

to be declared righteous,

just as if we never sinned.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Reconciliation means that once we are justified / forgiven we

then experience God’s placing us into His eternal family.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

These are not two steps. Both are happening to us at the same time when we trust Jesus.

We are examining them separating to gain a greater

understanding.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Illustration:

The Judge’s choice.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Satan and his demonic forces do not want you to live in the full experience of this love from God.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

The forces of darkness lie to us with great deception

seeking to lead us away from God’s love & acceptance.

These forces seek to lead us into the experiences of guilt and

shame.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

The goal of Satan’s forces for every person is to steal, kill, and destroy. If possible, these forces of darkness will steal from us

the wonderful blessings that come as a result

of God’s love & acceptance.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

If allowed they will seek to kill any and all of the joyful

experiences God intended for us.

Finally, they will seek to destroy any influence God may be giving

you to demonstrate His love & acceptance to others.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

God created each of us with a need, a desperate yearning

to be loved, accepted, and to know that our life has

meaning or purpose.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

ONLY God can bring a fulfillment of these 3 vital needs.

The need of love, acceptance, and purpose are experienced every moment of every day. We can call these 3 needs

our value or our worth.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Satan and his forces are also aware of our need of value.

The lies they speak to us attack us in this vital area.

He attacks through urging us to

accept substitutes for God.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

This leads us to attempt to meet this need of worth through

things, relationships, accomplishment, etc. Nothing

the world offers can fully satisfy this God created need.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

These forces of Satan speak lies to us using first person language. This is an attempt to deceive us into believing that these ideas

have come from within us.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Here are a few examples of the lies.

- My value depends upon my performance – produces a fear of failure

- My value depends upon the approval

of others – fear of rejection

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Examples continued

- Those who fail are unworthy of loveand deserve to be punished-blamed

- My failures make it okay for others, or even myself, to condemn me

- I believe God loves me but God could never accept me

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Believing the truth of God’s Word sets us free

from the deceptive power of these lies.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

God’s love & acceptance is NOT given to us

based upon our behavior either before

we are born again or afterwards.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

The value God gives us is COMPLETELY based upon

the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the

dead.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Our lives are eternally joined to the life of Jesus.

Because God eternally loves and accepts Jesus,

God eternally loves & accepts us.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

How do we live in the freedom of God’s love and acceptance?

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

1. Trust in the death & resurrection of Jesus

as your ONLY means of receiving love & acceptance from God.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

2. Trust that your relationship with God you now enjoy

because of Jesus is eternal.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

3. Trust that your relationship with God is where all of your need for love, acceptance, and purpose

can be fully experienced. God alone can give you 100%

of this need.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

4. Trust fully the truth that God will never condemn you.

Do not accept condemnation from others.

Do not respond to the manipulation of guilt and shame.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

5. When guilt and shame are used to persuade, you can be confident it is not coming from

God. Do not treat others with condemnation.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

6. Respond to God’s conviction with thanksgiving, confession, repentance, and a willingness

to be transformed.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

7. Do not permit the forces of darkness to twist God’s loving discipline into false guilt and

paralyzing shame. God’s love & acceptance

does NOT mean God accepts all behavior.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

8. God separates who a person is from what a person does.

We are to love and accept every person.

We are to also speak the truth of God’s Word in love in faith that if God can transform us

He can transform anyone else.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

9. Study God’s Word concerning His love &

acceptance.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

10.Here are a few Scriptures to get you started- in bulletin

outline

Romans 8:1, 37Galatians 5:1, 13-14, 16, 18, 22-25Ephesians 1: 3-2:10Hebrews 6:17-20Hebrews 7:251 John 1:9

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

11.Choose to live in a manner worthy of this calling.

Ask God to work through you to treat all others as people

God values. Ask God to help you

introduce them to God’s love & acceptance

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Meditate of this statement of truth concerning you.

God’s Word teaches that as God’s child

I am completely forgiven and accepted. My sin cannot and does not bring condemnation or God would be

a liar and that is impossible!

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

When I do choose to sin my fellowship with God is temporarily hindered.

The Holy Spirit convicts me in love seeking my repentance.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

When I confess my sin God is faithful and just to forgive

me and restore our fellowship and God is able to cleanse me

of the root of mistrust which helped to produce the sin.

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

I choose to live in these truths and by God’s Grace I reject any thoughts or words that would

come against me attacking these truths.

I will no longer live as a slave to guilt and condemnation.

I am free in Christ! I am free to live for Him!

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Closing Thoughts

1. Have you received from God this wonderful gift of eternal life

through Jesus Christ? (Romans 6:23)

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Closing Thoughts

2. Romans 12: 1-2 speaks of a transformation

which occurs through a renewing of our minds

Practicing love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame

Closing Thoughts

3. It will take time to break all the chains that false guilt can have on our minds and hearts yet now is the time to take the

truth and begin to allow God

to set us free!

Series:

Faithful families in an unfaithful world

Message:

Practicing love and acceptance rather

than guilt and shame

Romans 5: 1-2, 10-11; Romans 8:1 & 37