100%
I have been thinking a lot about shame recently. Specifically, the shame brought on by addiction. I have never suffered from addiction, but I have watched many people I care about suffer from it—anything from pornography addiction to drug and alcohol addiction. Today, while I was doing my Come Follow Me study, I learned one of the most amazing things. Have you ever realized that Adam and Eve were given 1 commandment in the Garden of Eden? They were told not to partake of the fruit of two trees, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life, and they broke it. They broke 100% of the commandments they were given. Yet, Heavenly Father did not yell. He told them of a plan to help them return home to Him. He knew this would happen and said, “Don’t worry, I have a plan.”
We all sin, and we all make mistakes. All of those look diffrent, but the ones that carry shame with them can be the hardest to overcome in my opion and here is why. Guilt is when her believe we did something wrong, which motivates us to change. Shame is when we believe we are what is wrong, which makes us want to hide. Addiction can come with a lot of shame. There is a lot of healing that needs to be done to overcome addiction, and Christ can be at the center of that. In fact, I can say that Christ is at the center of all true healing, even if people do not know it.
There are things I have always had faith in and known, that Christ is the one who heals shame. It is impossible for me to be out of His reach. I can know that, but sometimes that truth still makes it hard to breathe. I can and will be forgiven of 100% of my sins because of my Savior. The same goes for all of you, reach out in your hurt, in your sorrow, in your addiction, shame, and anger. Reach out! Reach out even if you doubt, because he will be there. One of my favorite stories about the endless love our Savior has for us can be found in Mark 9.
In Mark 9, a father comes to our Savior asking Christ to heal his son. Mark 9:23–24 (The Holy Bible, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, online edition), we read “23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:23–24, The Holy Bible, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, online edition, retrieved from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/mark/9?lang=eng). This man knew that he had doubts, but he also hoped and had faith that the Lord could heal his son. This message applies to us; if we just hope in our Savior’s redemption, I believe that we can be made clean! The Lord forgave Adam and Eve for breaking 100% of His laws. His love is never-ending, and I promise that He will heal your shames and forgive your mistakes. He is our Savior sent by our loving Heavenly Father. Nothing is impossible with these two in our lives!
Reference:
The Holy Bible, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Online edition). (n.d.). Mark 9:23–24. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/mark/9?lang=eng
