Sin and shame part 1: Why are you hiding? – Aida Calder

Posted on July 24th, 2010

For years, I believed that sin caused a separation between God and me. I was taught that God is righteous and holy and can’t bear to look on sin so when I sin, he turns away from me. Therefore, in order to be restored to a right relationship with him, I had to repent and ask for his forgiveness. Only then could I live in his forgiveness but that was only until the next time I sinned and then the process started all over again.

Recently, my understanding of this has changed. In the garden, after Adam and Eve had sinned by eating the fruit God had told them not to eat, he didn’t turn away from them. Instead, he came looking for them as he had always done. However, now instead of greeting him, they hid from him. When they didn’t immediately come to him, he called out to them and they finally responded. They told him that they had hidden because they were naked. Shame because of their naked condition had caused them to hide from God.

This story and many others show us that God NEVER turns away from us even when we sin. However, because of shame, we turn away from him. SO, IT WOULD SEEM THAT SHAME, NOT SIN, IS WHAT CAUSES THIS SEPARATION.

In the story of the loving father and his prodigal son, the father saw his son coming home when he was a long way off. He didn’t wait for his son to come to him and ask his forgiveness. Instead, before the boy could say a word, he ran to him, hugged him and kissed him. He immediately restored him fully as a son with all of the rights and privileges of a son because, in his eyes, there had never been a separation. The separation only existed in his son’s heart.

Jesus also told a story about a shepherd who left his 99 sheep to look for one lost sheep. He didn’t wait for the sheep to come to him with its head hanging down in shame. Instead, he went looking for it until he found it. Then, he joyfully put it on his shoulders and carried it home.

Religion has taught us that because of his holiness, fellowship with God is broken until we’ve repented. This tradition has caused a lot of insecurity and fear because we’re never quite sure if we’ve offended him. We’ve been told that we’re out from under his umbrella of protection until we repent and, if we don’t quickly repent, all sorts of terrible things can happen to us and our family.

This picture of an easily offended God is in my opinion totally false. The description of love given by the apostle Paul says that love is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs. In other words, love is not easily offended. Since God is love, then it stands to reason that he’s not easily offended either.

Filed under Aida Calder, Christian Living |

4 Responses to “Sin and shame part 1: Why are you hiding? – Aida Calder”

Debbie Says:
July 31st, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Wow! This is a wonderful read Aida – so beautifully and simply put. I look forward to future posts from you!
Aida Calder Says:
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:51 am
Thanks, Debbie. I’m glad you enjoyed my first article posted here. I just posted part 2. I hope you’ll enjoy that one too.
April Rodriguez Says:
August 10th, 2010 at 6:30 am
Beautifully put. When my kids make mistakes I love them even if they don’t realize their mistakes or if they disagree with me that it was a mistake. If I could do that, what more can GOD do? “If ye being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask?” Matt 7:11. I know I’ve made many mistakes in life and judging from the Grace I continue to receive, my Father has never given up on me, even when I was not paying attention. We expect our children to make mistakes as they learn and grow into adulthood. It’s all part of the process. GOD too expects us, his children, to make mistakes as we learn and grow into our own divinity. It is the unconditional LOVE of GOD that keeps us connected, whether we are paying attention or not.
Aida Calder Says:
August 10th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Devon, I’m glad that you finally made it in. I love what you had to say. You’ve said it beautifully. If we as imperfect as we are can give unconditional love to our children why do we expect any less from God? I love how you emphasized that making mistakes is part of the process. If we could just understand that, we would run to Him instead of running away from Him when we do make a mistake.