After my conversation with Jake, I wondered:
Is shame just a negative emotion and a skewed mind-set, or an actual parasitic force that drains life, takes life, and keeps us from the life God has always intended for us?
Consider what’s true about some of the mind-sets we often embrace:
· It’s not humility that compels us to shy away from God and ask little from Him—it’s shame.
· It’s not integrity that keeps us from asking for God’s help when we need it—it’s pride, independence, and shame.
· It’s not noble to go without something that God has promised to provide—it’s an orphan-mentality rooted in shame.
· It is not justice that keeps us far from God after we’ve blown it—it’s shame.
· It’s not kindness that keeps us from ”bothering” God with our persistent requests—it’s either spiritual laziness or shame.
We don’t have to try and convince God to be good to us. In fact, He’s the one trying to convince us to receive and walk in His goodness.
Here’s what’s true for the person who is in Christ, and is therefore, His joint-heir:
· We are recognized in the heavenly court and have every right to appear before the King, assured of His glad welcome. (See Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 4:16)
· We have an Advocate—Jesus Himself. He intercedes for us day and night. We’re not bending the ear of an unrighteous judge in effort to get his attention. (See 1 John 2:1; Hebrews 7:25.)
· We have the affection and attention of our star-breathing God who loves us and intends to finish what He started in us (See Psalm 18:6; Philippians 1:6.)
I used think of being shameless in only negative terms: someone with no social awareness or sense of common decorum, someone with no fear of God and no concern for others.
And while that alarming aspect of our culture is growing by leaps and bounds, let’s not throw out its counterpart: Shameless—audacious, unconcealed, undisguised, transparent, unashamed.
Jesus invites us into His presence without shame, without our past baggage, without the need to cover ourselves or to be someone we’re not, without the enemy’s constant taunts in our ear telling us we’re not enough, and without the self-deprecating slurs we constantly hurl at ourselves.
Jesus wants us, invites us, into His presence, expectant and full of faith — full and free, healed and whole.
Adapted from Your Powerful Prayers; Reaching the Heart of God with a Bold and Humble Faith by Susie Larson, Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2016. Used by permission.
When we make big mistakes (or even not so big) and hurt others, it is very, very hard to earn back trust and earn forgiveness. The mistake may eventually fade into the past, but it never goes away. It is almost impossible to accept that God would forgive and forget, rather than keep a tally of our failures….just as we do with each other. After all we will all be judged before God when we die, right? Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father to judge both the quick and the dead. So with that in mind, it’s no wonder we can’t “set aside” shame and believe we are worthy of blessings. God punishes our bad behavior; he does not reward it. He may forgive it, but it is not forgotten. He may occasionally bless us as well, but it is out of His mercy, not for our good behavior. Feeling shame has no bearing on receiving God’s blessings. But it sure works to keep us in check with our behavior.
I believe that shame is stronger in a person for their choices than the hurt felt by others. It’s so much better for everyone to let it out and let it go. Feeling shame is the best time to go to God. He is gracious, merciful, forgiving and of course loving. Love keeps no record of wrongs 1 Cor 13:4