“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
John 3:16-21
Just as there is a connection between immorality and shame, there is a very clear connection between holiness and the lack of shame that follows. While in addiction recovery we operate from a loving, gracious standpoint, we cannot ignore that when we do the right thing for a sustained period of time, it rewards us with an interior that is calm and satisfied. One might say peaceful, in righteousness. Jesus comments on this natural movement. Those who do what is true come into the light. Our right behavior makes it possible to step into a position of being seen without shame. And why do we do it? So that it can be seen clearly that our works have been carried out in God. In other words, we become the living example of God’s ability to work in the world. As Oswald Chambers commented, we are all “trophies of grace”.
It seems significant to me that Jesus provides separate motivations for these two behaviors. For the man who does not step into the light, but loves the darkness, his motivation is himself. He doesn’t want to be exposed. He’s afraid, for sure, but at the core he is selfish. After all, this man too saw the light for what it was. But he rejected it in order to be able to maintain the life of deception that he is living. For the man who does what is true, his motivation shifts. His motivation is that God would get the glory. That people WOULD see his weakness. But why? Because he lives in the light of Hope. Eternity. His weakness becomes the bedrock example of the goodness of God. he no longer has to be ashamed that he is doing the right things. He is freed to be weak, while God is let into his life to be strong.
Question: do you want a calm, peaceful interior? While we cannot guarantee peace in our bearing witness to God, we can find solace in the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. You too can adopt an eternal perspective that inspires stepping into the light to be a testimony to others. Step into the light.