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Jesus nailed everything to the cross had the potential to separate us from an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Let me point out a few cultural norms during the time of this story:
1. Men did not usually talk with women without someone else present.
2. Jewish men would have never talked with a Samaritan woman who was considered a half breed.
3. Noon was not the normal time of day for a Samaritan woman to travel to a well for water. They would always go during the cool times usually early morning or evening.

The reason she was sneaking out to the well and avoiding everyone else was because she was a woman living in shame.

During their conversation, Jesus talks with her about living water. He’s is referring to the water of life or eternal life. Then she says to Jesus, “Please, sir, give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

And Jesus responds with something that most of us would never see coming. He says to her, “Go and get your husband.” What does that have to do with getting water? Do all the other husbands come to the well with their spouses?

The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband”.

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet” (John 4:15-19).

She was ashamed of her past and her present life.

Have you ever been ashamed by something you’ve done or haven’t done?

Some of us are so controlled by guilt and shame that it causes us to avoid others trying to sneak through life undetected.

Shame is an evil thing. I’m not talking about the immediate feeling of guilt or shame we may feel about sinning against God. I’m talking about a mindset that keeps us trapped in a cycle of guilt and shame.

It was because of her that he said, “I have to go where no one else wants to go.” Let’s be honest, He was on a mission and His mission was her.

He didn’t care that she was a woman with a questionable reputation. He didn’t care that everyone else in her community had rejected her. In spite of all of that, Jesus not only engaged her in conversation; he treated her with dignity and loved her. (Dave Ferguson).

One doctor wrote, “Few emotional states are more powerful than shame. We feel guilty for what we do, but we feel shame for what we are.”

According to clinical psychologist Gershen Kaufman, “Shame is the most disturbing experience individuals ever have about themselves; no other emotion feels more deeply disturbing because in the moment of shame the self feels wounded from within.”

Like many of us, the woman at the well began to believe she was unworthy and unacceptable.

Shame can turn into the pervasive belief that you are in some way inherently defective or unacceptable… and that will have a negative effect on all aspects of your life.” (Adelyn Birch)

Shame will never truly draw you to God it will always drive you from God.

How can we overcome guilt and shame? How can we nail it to the cross in our lives?

People say to me all the time, “I can forgive but I just can’t forget.” What is Paul meaning when he says he is forgetting the past?

This word forgetting doesn’t mean forgetting something occurred in the past, carries the idea of not allowing what happened in your past to guide your current decisions and future.

You can’t drive forward by looking in the rear view mirror.

I’m sure the “woman at the well” remembered what she did and who she did it with but when Jesus forgave her sin, He nailed her shame to the cross and set her free from the control of her past.

Let me ask you this question, “Is your past dictating your future?” Do you have a tough time forgetting your past?

Guilt and Shame never draw us closer to Christ they always drive us from Him.

Whenever you deal with a constant feeling of guilt and shame you can be sure it’s not from God.