ANNA WEEPS over the phone with her best friend as she describes a
marriage that feels hopeless and lifeless. No matter what she
tries, her husband cannot seem to see her, care about her, or
change the behavior that is destroying their marriage and their
family. Jake is alone. He assumed that by age thirty he would be
well on his way to his dream of a successful career, marriage, and
starting a family. Instead, Jake works an unmotivating job and
can't seem to gain the courage to talk to the woman he admires from
afar. Even after losing significant weight, Lily still views
herself as several sizes larger than she is and doesn't connect
someone discussing"a thin woman" as describing her. Can you relate
to these scenarios and forms of shame? Perhaps your experiences
have been different, but despite its manifestation, shame is
something we all endure. WHAT IS SHAME? Shame is the feeling of
"not good enough," according to our own standard or our perception
of someone else's standard for us. It's what keeps us from being
honest about our struggles, sins, and less-than-perfect moments.
Whereas guilt is associated with actions, shame taints your entire
identity. At its core, shame is fear of weakness, failure, or
unworthiness being unveiled for all to see. It commonly masquerades
as embarrassment, and it shows up when you attempt something new,
or when you're unsure of your place in a group. The ultimate origin
of shame is no less dark than the Accuser of our souls himself,
Satan. The Evil One always wants us to doubt whether we belong to
the kingdom, whether God loves us, and whether we are truly
forgiven and free of our sin and others' sin against us. THE GREAT
SHAME EXCHANGE How can we break the cycle of reacting to shame with
more shame? In the "great shame exchange," Jesus took our shame and
clothed us with joy. The gospel--the good news of Jesus
Christ--means that through Jesus's life, death on a cross, and
resurrection from the grave, all of our shame is exchanged for
honor, beauty, joy, comfort, justice, favor, and freedom. This
shame exchange is costly. It is very costly for Christ, but not for
us. All it costs us is the humility of admitting we cannot cover
our own shame. We receive honor; he took our shame. We are lavished
with grace; he was stained with our sin. We receive salvation; he
experienced damnation. When Jesus cried, "It is finished" from the
cross, he bore our sin, guilt, and shame, that we might know
forgiveness, redemption, and freedom. Consider the good news Jesus
offers: - Jesus comes to give honor instead of dishonor. - Jesus
clothes you with beauty, removing the ashes of shame you've worn
for your sin or for the sinful atrocities committed against you. -
He comforts you as you mourn. - Whether in this life or the one to
come, he brings justice for the injustice you've suffered. - Jesus
brings favor instead of the vague cloud of constant disapproval.
FIGHTING THE BATTLEAGAINST SHAME Bringing Shame into the Light of
Community Shame thrives in secrecy. But fighting against shame
moves you out of your lonely bunker of one into vibrant community.
It does so one brave conversation at a time. It does so one
relationship at a time. It will not be smooth and seamless. Expect
your initial attempts to be flawed and broken and bumpy. Meeting
Shame with the Grace of Forgiveness The Bible is unique in its
approach to community because it holds in tension both the ideal
vision of people living in harmony with one another and the reality
that our sin and brokenness will often disrupt this harmony. It
allows for repair of the inevitable fissures that happen as we try
to love one another perfectly with hearts that are imperfect.
Living in the reality of God's forgiveness of us requires a posture
of forgiveness toward others. And when we receive forgiveness from
others, it makes us grateful for God's forgiveness of us, and the
cycle of redemption rolls along like the reassuring tide of the
ocean's waves. Scripture provides God's instruction for living in
community: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against
another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you
also must forgive. (Colossians 3:12-13) FREEDOM FROM SHAME The
battle against shame is definitively won through the gospel of
Jesus and his victory over sin and death--the freedom that follows
Christ's victory arrives through something as simple and as hard as
faith. This type of faith agrees you cannot rescue yourself from
your shame, that your attempts to clothe yourself have been as
futile as the fig-leaf loin cloths our first parents in Adam and
Eve crafted. It's a faith that addresses the complication of shame
mingled with guilt. This faith gives you an underlying confidence
that your sin has truly been atoned for and taken away by a
dying-now-resurrected Savior. By faith, we know that there will be
no more mourning or tears or death in the life to come. We look
back to the Garden of Eden to see that there was no shame before
sin. Unashamed. It's where we began, and it's our destiny as the
redeemed ones in Christ. The Christian's ultimate hope for shame is
that we will be clothed in the honor of Jesus Christ when we stand
before God in all his glory. Focusing on this sure and true
shame-free destiny gives us hope to keep going--to keep battling
shame's dark lies, to enlist others into our journeys with us, and
to seek to make our church communities a small though imperfect
taste of the life to come.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
