Right then, I thought to myself “We were meant to live naked! That’s why!” God brought me back to the beginning in the garden of Eden and began to speak to my heart. Nakedness was the original design of mankind, yet sin brought shame, and made Adam and Eve aware of their state of nakedness. Immediately, they hid, covered themselves, and waited in fear of rejection and punishment from God.

Isn’t that familiar to how many of us have lived or are living right now!? We hide behind the mask, the façade, the covers, and in isolation. Afraid to be seen, to be known, to show the messiness of life, raw emotions, and the depth of pain. Terrified if we expose ourselves, we will face rejection, abandonment, or punishment in some capacity.

Shame is a liar, and behind it is an aggressive accuser stealing every ounce of self-worth out of you! Shame takes the brutally honest truth, twists it, and attempts to suck the life out of us. Shame says, “You not only made a mistake, you are a mistake.” It says, “If you are found out, you will be rejected, and deemed as unlovable.” Shame, you are a liar!

One of my favorite topics is shame. I bring it up in my sessions, courage circles, and workshops. Why!!?? Because I know the bondage and intense pain it causes. I lived in shame most of my life. Too many secrets, too many masks, too much performance, too many chains! I was screaming inside, empty, lifeless, and not sure how to get out. I can feel a righteous anger in me as I write. A voice of justice surging to set people free! I can feel the chains of bondage on people that need to be let out of captivity. It’s been way too long. Your sentence isn’t death, it is freedom! Everything you have done, everything that has been done to you, it has all been paid for and it has all been washed in the blood of Jesus. Every part of your story has the word ‘REDEMPTION” written all over it.

You were meant to live NAKED! As much as I know shame, I also know the relentless love of The Father that pulled me from the ‘pit’ and put me in the ‘palace’ when I did not feel deserving at all. Because of His fierce love, I also know how fully accepted I am and how sufficient His grace is for all my imperfections. It is unimaginable, the depth and width of His love. Just when I think I have experienced His goodness, He washes me all over again in His love. Undone once again, I find myself speechless.

His love covers it all friends! You were meant to live NAKED and in nakedness you were meant to live FREE. We were designed to be fully known, fully seen, and fully loved in safe community. We were not designed to hide, polish ourselves up really good, put on the façade, and paint a beautiful picture for all to see. NOOOO!!!! Life is crazy friends! It is full of ups and downs. It is full of unanswered prayers, unresolved questions in our hearts, and on the flip side, it is also full of many fulfilled promises. It is full of disappointment, regret, discouragement, pain, and it is full of hope as well! Once minute your flowing in favor and freedom, and the next you are not sure why you feel stuck. It is real! All the contradictions, the chaos, the confusion, yet the beautiful clarity that comes in His presence.

Brene Brown says “Vulnerability is the greatest measure of Courage” and I one hundred percent agree. It is crazy risky, scary as heck, and full of uncertainty. However, there is security in knowing the God we call Father loves our humanity, our brokenness, and He calls us righteous and perfect in His sight. He is known as ‘REDEEMER’, and we have been named ‘REDEEMED’. We get to live the greatest love story of all time.

I encourage you, in every moment you feel like you want to hide, picture a little one who cannot wait to get out of their diaper because of the freedom they feel. In that moment you have a choice to run wild and free, or hidden back in your mess. My prayer for you is that you encounter the deepest levels of God’s love that you ever have! I pray today that you live naked and unashamed.

Today, I call you up and out… Come out of hiding, come out of fear, look outside the door, there is a relentless love awaiting you my dear.  It is endless, it is wild, it is free, undeserved, unlimited, and unearned. It is yours. Free yourself from the prison you have been living in. The door was actually never locked. Shame is a liar, and it has told you He has been holding the key. Love has no limits, no barriers, no walls. Come on out now, you are FREE.

Love & Courage,