by Scotty Smith
That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend … the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.
Ephesians 3:17–19

I’m discovering the much moreness of God’s love. God’s lavish love for us in Jesus keeps getting bigger and bigger. And a central dimension of that gospel is the love of God. This is why Paul prayed as he did in Ephesians 3, that we might know the love of God that surpasses knowledge so that we may be filled with the fullness of God.
How in the world can we imagine that prayer being answered? Let me give you one concrete connection in life for what that’s been meaning to me over the last few years. I recently, for the first time, publicly articulated my story of experiencing sexual abuse, which I mentioned previously. Yet for so many years, over half a century, I was representative of one who could say with all my heart, “I know for sure that Jesus has died for all my sins, past, present, and future, in word, thought, and deed. Should I die tonight, I have the complete confidence that I will go to heaven because I believe Jesus lived and died in my place.” But to understand the power of the love of God to deal with your guilt is one thing; it’s another thing to deal with your shame.
In these last few years, the Lord has been taking me deeper into seeing just how much shame has defined my life. There’s a big difference between guilt and shame. Guilt would say this: I did something wrong. Shame says: Something is wrong with me. The voice of guilt: I need forgiveness. The voice of shame: I need to be different. The voice of guilt: I failed. The voice of shame: I am a failure. The voice of guilt: I broke a rule. The voice of shame: I am a broken person. Guilt says, I made a mistake; shame says, I am a mistake. Guilt: I didn’t do enough; shame: I am not enough.
I want you to know how much of my life—as a married man, as a dad, and as a pastor—shame has been a resounding echo in my heart. I lived enslaved to the kind of shame that told me I have nothing to give other than the gifts God has entrusted to me. But I taste now the freedom of the gospel, which says God loves not simply what I can do for Him, but me. He loves me.

Thought to Remember for Today

Perhaps, like me, you might be able to say, “I, by the power of this love, am beginning to realize I have something to offer simply as a person.” I want you to know, whatever the shame is, whether or not it is generated out of sexual abuse, Jesus and His love and the much moreness of this gospel are here to meet you now.

Fitzpatrick, E. (2016). Grace untamed: a 60-day devotional. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.