SHAME
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SHAME motivates people to be better.
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WHEN LOOKING AT YOURSELF, HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF?
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One thing is true of you as with every other human being. Your insides don’t always match up to the picture people project on you from the outside.
Compared to them, you can feel naked, wrong, weak, bad, ugly, and a thousand other descriptions. That is SHAME, the inner feeling of self when in juxtaposition to the world view of you. The statement 'Shame on you' is a social dis-qualification because of what you have done, while inner SHAME disqualifies the right to exist. These are easily mixed up. To cause even more confusion, the shame for what you have done can easily grow into the SHAME for your core being. A government's execution of a person is the ultimate rejection of that person for what they have done. It is saying you can never fit in our society. What does all this have to do with God? |
In God’s presence, a person seeing themselves as a sinner is SHAME itself. Every time we accept an emotion or picture of SHAME in our hearts we become naked before man, God, and self. Most, but not all, people rush to cover their nakedness.
All rush to cover SHAME. In the verse above, this shame/SHAME theme is once again played out. Our soul, attached to other people’s opinions, shames us, while God’s opinion of us can SHAME us. The first declares hope for change, the latter is a damnable statement saying, ‘You're out!’. This means SHAME is a condemnation of your core self-ness. It is judged an unredeemable entity unfit for this society or the community to come. OUCH! I’m running for cover!
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Yes. Roman 8:1 declares that right at this moment, there is no condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus. To those who do not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit of God.
How do I get into Christ and walk after the Spirit? That old you cannot. The one who thinks its-self is flesh, independent, wise, powerful, capable ‘only if’, that one who wants to be better before they can qualify to get IN must be cut off, disrobed, even discarded. Then you discover, accept, put on, and become clothed with Christ Himself. In this surrender, you find a freedom and peace that you never thought possible.
Does this sound like magic? Well, in a way, it is. As soon as you give up, He takes over. As soon as you turn from trying and trusting Him, there is no SHAME. That which could been SHAMEed has been SHAMEd to death. Now Christ can do your life without SHAME or shame. His resurrected LIFE has no SHAME, guilt, fear, or anything that tries to dissolve our union with God through our adherence to Christ.
Let's make this simple. When you try, you fail. When you trust, no matter the outcome, you have succeeded. Your trying is proof of failure, and your trust is success. Your trust in Christ is righteousness. Your trying proves you are believing a lie.
The lie says, “God is out of control and needs your help. If you only do this or that, you AND God can get it done. If you only do...YOU can be like God.” P.S. THE LIE.
When you stop, God takes over!
His ability and grace are limitless, and when we step back, we allow Him to work wonders in our lives.
How do I get into Christ and walk after the Spirit? That old you cannot. The one who thinks its-self is flesh, independent, wise, powerful, capable ‘only if’, that one who wants to be better before they can qualify to get IN must be cut off, disrobed, even discarded. Then you discover, accept, put on, and become clothed with Christ Himself. In this surrender, you find a freedom and peace that you never thought possible.
Does this sound like magic? Well, in a way, it is. As soon as you give up, He takes over. As soon as you turn from trying and trusting Him, there is no SHAME. That which could been SHAMEed has been SHAMEd to death. Now Christ can do your life without SHAME or shame. His resurrected LIFE has no SHAME, guilt, fear, or anything that tries to dissolve our union with God through our adherence to Christ.
Let's make this simple. When you try, you fail. When you trust, no matter the outcome, you have succeeded. Your trying is proof of failure, and your trust is success. Your trust in Christ is righteousness. Your trying proves you are believing a lie.
The lie says, “God is out of control and needs your help. If you only do this or that, you AND God can get it done. If you only do...YOU can be like God.” P.S. THE LIE.
When you stop, God takes over!
His ability and grace are limitless, and when we step back, we allow Him to work wonders in our lives.