I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard the words, “Shame On You” during my childhood. In defense of my parents, I don’t believe that they understood the power of those words. I do believe they were attempting to help me understand right from wrong. But those words, along with other deflating words and events, had a lasting effect on my self image, well into my adult years.
Shame affected me in many ways. While I won’t take the time to get into all of them now, I will mention a few. Shame caused me to feel stuck at times; like I couldn’t move forward or past things. It made me feel like I needed to be super spiritual in ways to compensate for my failures and shortcomings. Shame also created these feelings of being attached to the traumatic things that happened to me. It caused me to emotionally hide from people. Shame kept me in a “living life on the surface mode” with no depth, and feeling alone - even in a group of people. Shame does that to us!
Maybe you can relate to some of these things I mentioned. Thankfully, there is grace and power through Christ to overcome shame. I’ve included a short list of five things we should know about shame. Number five is the best!
1. Shame is the toppling of Glory. God's intentions for us are glorious. He crowned mankind with glory and honor. Shame is a longing for restored glory and value. (Rom. 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory off God!)
2. Guilt is about our wrong actions, whereas shame is about who we are. (Shame is an attack on our sense of identity)
3. Shame limits our perception of EVERYTHING including God and ourselves!
4. Shame is the adhesive that binds us to trauma! We sometimes blame and shame ourselves, not only for what we've done, but for what has happened to us, perpetuating lies about our potential in Christ.
5. Our Freedom from Shame was accomplished through Christ's loving, redemptive work. (Isaiah 54:4 “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth… Ps.40:2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. Ephesians 1:6-7 We thank God for His loving-favor to us. He gave this loving-favor to us through His much-loved Son. 7 Because of the blood of Christ, we are bought and made free from the punishment of sin. And because of His blood, our sins are forgiven. His loving-favor to us is so rich.
We can break the chains of shame in our lives.
Don’t let shame keep you from seeking help!
RISE ABOVE IT AND ASCEND!