For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Romans 10:10, ESV
Guilt and shame are not God’s tools. I say this often, but I still hear people’s stories of guilt and shame. As a Lutheran, a common way to understand our relationship with God is that we are to fear and love Him. When we fear God rightly, we understand how lost we are without His forgiveness that He gave to us in Christ, our Savior. In that fear, we are not to feel guilt or shame but be led to the path that leads us to restoration. In Christ, our past no longer defines us, and the law is powerless in that it has revealed to us our need for a Savior, and shame is left behind. For this reason, we love our God because we recognize the freedom that He has given us. Confess Jesus as Lord and know it to be true in your heart.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.