When You Feel Too Messy to Be Loved

Today's Scripture: Matthew 9:9-13 Shame tells you to hide the parts of yourself that feel messy, reactive, needy, or disappointing. But Jesus does the opposite of what we often expect: He moves toward Matthew before Matthew has cleaned up his life. Today, we’ll look at what this story reveals about the heart of God and why the places you most want to hide may be the very places where mercy wants to meet you. *Why Jesus didn’t wait for Matthew to become respectable *How shame teaches us to hide the parts of ourselves that need care *Why God’s holiness moves toward human need rather than away from it *The difference between mercy and spiritually proving yourself *How to let Jesus meet you in a place you don’t feel proud of Go Deeper: Check out our Soul Tending Video Resource library all about tending the wounds within—it's free when you preorder The Secure Soul Connect with Dr. Alison on Instagram: @dralisoncook Join 80,000+ Soul Menders in Dr. Alison’s free email community for ongoing reflection and support. While Dr. Cook is a counselor, the content of this podcast and any of the products provided by Dr. Cook are not specific counseling advice nor are they a substitute for individual counseling. The content and products provided on this podcast are for informational purposes only Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices