Coming Into The Light

I wonder if we view our Father's correction through the eyes/mindset of shame, how can we not perceive Him actually rejecting us?
Without the needed ongoing correction being brought into our lives (the proof of His love is in fact, Him correcting us) we will have His image in us but not His likeness.

Hebrews 12:7-9 (The Message)

In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?
My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

Maybe it's because of not knowing/seeing the truth of who we are (how we ARE accepted in Him) and who we are becoming, that the only recourse for so many is in trying to obey the rules, making the outside of the cup to look so pretty, while all the time hidden inside is one cowering in shame.
Without coming to know of our acceptance in the Father's love, we will work hard at being known for who we're not....'If folks really knew me, they would reject me.' If we believe God (the Father) sees us as losers, then why try to be someone we're not?

One of the greatest benefits of walking free of this shame, is being set free to BE the person He has called us to be, before sin ever entered the world.

Rich