“Dealing with our guilt and shame is what the whole Bible is about. It is about redemption, that is, the paying of a debt of guilt and shame that needed to be paid. That payment was made on the cross. Jesus took our shame, hanging in public, numbered with the criminals.
He took our guilt by taking our sin on Himself and paying the price for it– death. He did this even though he had no reason for either shame or guilt, because He was a perfect man. He did not do these things for Himself; every action in the whole process was substitutionary. It was done for us.
Why? So guilt and shame would not hold us; so that in the courage of celebratory faith we would quit hiding, quit excusing, quit blaming, and quit rising to our own defense. So that we could be unafraid of saying, ‘You are right, I was wrong, and I need your forgiveness.’
So that we could say, ‘I know I blew it last night, but I am committed to doing better.’ So that we could say to one another, ‘I need your help. I don’t always see myself accurately. If you see something wrong in me, I welcome you to help me see it as well.’
So that we could look at our marriages and not declare that they are perfect but celebrate the fact that, over the years, we have taken many important steps closer to what God has called us to be and has designed our marriages to become.”
–Paul David Tripp, What Did You Expect? (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), 79.
