Removing Your Shame Label

by Eddie Capparucci

Christian maturity is a life-long journey. And it is important to realize the path to Christian maturity will never be complete during our time in this world. As long as we inhabit these sinful bodies, it is not possible to be fully righteous in our walk with God. Our Christian maturity will only be complete upon our face-to-face meeting with Him. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3, NIV) What we will be, has not yet been made known. We need to ponder those words carefully when we are flogging ourselves because we believe we are inadequate; that we don’t measure up; or we are unlovable. Those negative self-descriptions have been accumulated over the years by destructive events and unsafe people who tore us down and trampled on our self-worth. Many of us spend our entire lives carrying those garbage bags, never shedding the shame labels and allowing them to keep us from achieving our full potential in Christ.