There was a time when I had no fear of people or the church, because in my own mind, I was living righteously, so righteously in fact that no one could judge me. Of course, they could judge me, but in my mind, I was righteous enough to have a defense against any judgment. I don’t feel that way anymore. I feel very guilty, full of shame, and constantly aware of all my sin and failure. My thoughts are filled with things like people are just waiting to expose me at every turn. That’s an awful way to think about people. In fact, that makes it quite difficult to love them and interact with them if you’re just afraid of them.