AFTERLIFE - Week 3

At some point in life, we all carry it. It weighs us down and keeps us from being our true selves. Sooner or later, we all feel guilt and shame over something we’ve done. We may try to shift the blame to our circumstances, or onto another person, but those tactics don’t really change anything inside of us. Guilt can destroy our relationships, and keep us isolated from the people we’ve hurt.

We do this with God too. When it comes to our relationship with God, we tend to back away. But, God doesn’t want us to live that way. He wants us to be free. Jesus died on the cross to wash away our guilt and shame.

Peter is the perfect example of this freedom extended. If there was ever a reason to carry around guilt and shame, Peter had it. On the night Jesus stood trial, Peter denied even knowing Him, three separate times. What makes it even worse is that Jesus warned Peter he would do it. Thankfully for Peter—and us—Jesus’s death wasn’t the end of the story. Jesus rose from the dead to offer us grace and forgiveness, no matter how much guilt and shame we’re carrying.