“Look what the Lord has done for me! My people were ashamed of me, but now the Lord has taken away that shame” (Luke 1:25).

Elizabeth, wife of Zacharias, was defined by her inability to have children. That was her shame that she carried for years and how people referred to her. How many of us are defined by our shame? It could be infertility. It could be  verbal, physical, or sexual abuse from our childhood. It could be a secret sin we’ve struggled with. Whatever the case, we have felt shame and disgrace.

But just at the right time, when hope seemed so very past tense, Jesus came. He came into the world not with pomp and circumstance, but in a lowly and humble manner. He came to identify with us in our shame, to take that shame, and ultimately to bear that shame with our sins and failures on the cross.

He removed from us the name Ashamed. He has given us new names. He calls us Beloved, for we are more loved by God than we could possibly imagine or contain.  He calls us Beautiful, for He has taken the ugliness of our wounds and scars and covered them over with His grace. He calls us Blessed, for we have been given the victory over the past that haunted us and the events that formerly shaped our worlds.

Just as Elizabeth had given up on her dreams by the point Gabriel visited Zacharias and told him the news, so had we. Our hopes were crushed, our dreams turned to dust, and our faith gone. But no longer.

When our faces are turned upward in worship, we are no longer covered with shame. We are covered by the glory of Jesus. We are wrapped in grace and mercy. We never again will bear reproach.

Thank you, Jesus for turning my shame into something glorious and beautiful. Eternity is not long enough for me to ever tell you what that means to me.