This week I have been carrying around the weight of my sin. I have been bogged down by feelings of inadequacy and reminders of my complete failure to live a Christ-honoring life. Yesterday in church, my sin and guilt hit me like a ton of bricks and I found it impossible to utter the words of the beloved hymn “It Is Well with My Soul.” Those grace-filled words stuck like tar in the back of my throat and all I could do was slump into my chair and hang my head, as tears of shame filled my eyes. How could it possibly be well with my soul when my soul was infected with sin? How could it be well with my soul when I fail over and over and over again, when I continually make the same mistakes day after day? How could it be well with my soul when I had believed the lies I allowed Satan to feed me? How?
And then it hit me.
When I stood to take communion, though my heart was in turmoil, it hit me. I stood to dip my bread into the wine, and the server grasped my shoulder and whispered to me, “This is the blood of Christ, shed for you, Amelia.” When she said my name, it hit me.
It is well with my soul, because Christ, the Lamb of God, died for me. It is well with my soul because the righteousness of Christ has been accredited to me. It is well with my soul because God, in his grace and mercy and love, gave his one and only son to take upon himself my sin, my shame, my guilt. It is well with my soul because I have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
I no longer have to bear the weight of sin and shame.
And neither do you.
If I were standing by your side, I would grasp your shoulder as my dear sister grasped mine and I would whisper your name, saying “Christ shed his blood for you.”
Take heart—Christ’s work on the cross is enough. His grace is sufficient.
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Romans 5:6-11
