SHAME
ON SHAME FOR GOD’S PEOPLE
BREAD
25 The
man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Genesis 2:25 (NIV)
1 To
you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do
not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous
without excuse. Psalms 25:1-3 (NIV)
3 Glorify
the Lord with me; let us exalt his
name together. 4 I sought
the Lord, and he answered me; he
delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are
never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them. 8 Taste
and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Psalms 34:3-8 (NIV)
12 “Do
not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear
what they fear, and do not dread it. 13 The Lord
Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear,
he is the one you are to dread, 14 and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of
Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them
fall.” Isaiah 8:12-14 (NIV)
13 Therefore
this is what the Sovereign Lord
says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; my servants will drink,
but you will go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to
shame. 14 My
servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts, but you will cry out from
anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit.” Isaiah 65:13-14 (NIV)
33 As it
is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock
that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Romans 9:33 (NIV)
10 For it
is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your
mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will
never be put to shame.” Romans 10:10-11
(NIV)
26 Brothers,
think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish
things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world
to shame the strong. 28 He
chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things
that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast
before him. 30 It is
because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from
God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let
him who boasts boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians
1:26-31 (NIV)
2 Let us
fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy
set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful
men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
14 Therefore,
since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the
Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has
been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to
help us in our time of need. Hebrews
4:14-16 (NIV)
BUTTER
“There
is a difference between brokenness over one’s sin and living in shame for the
rest of our days. A broken and contrite
heart the Lord will never despise. This
means one agrees with the Lord that the sin was wrong and desires not to
continue on in it. It is a turning from
it into the ways of the Lord through His power, for His glory, for our good. This leads to peace with God which passes all
understanding not continued shame over the transgression. Guilt is Satan’s trademark and often keeps
the forgiven believer paralyzed in their walk with the Lord believing
themselves to be unworthy to be used in kingdom work or even approach the throne
of grace through prayer. If Satan can’t
keep us from being saved, he desires to keep us from being used and from feeling
the comfort of God’s love and forgiveness.
Believers are accepted in the Beloved.”
BHY
“There
comes a time, in spite of our soft, modern ways, when we must be desperate in
prayer, when we must wrestle, when we must be outspoken, shameless and
importunate. Many of the prayers
recorded in Scripture are ‘cries,’ and the Hebrew and Greek words are very
strong. Despite opinions to the
contrary, the Bible recognizes such a thing as storming heaven- ‘praying
through.’ The fervent prayer of a
righteous man is mighty in its working.” Cameron Thompson
“A man should never be ashamed to own that he is
wrong, which is but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was
yesterday.”
Alexander
Pope
“Christ, when he blesses, blesses not
in word only, but in deed. The lips of truth cannot promise more “No matter how
athletic, slim, handsome or pretty, intelligent, well-read, respected,
connected, funny, wealthy, or religious we are, if we anchor our
worth in these things instead of in the smile of God over us, these things will
eventually wreck us. The only esteem that won’t abandon us is
the esteem given to us by Jesus. Because
only in Jesus are we fully known and always loved, thoroughly exposed yet never
rejected. Only Jesus will repeatedly
forgive us when we fail Him. Only Jesus will declare His
affection for us when we are at our very worst as well as at our very best. Only in Jesus can we return to that blessed Edenic state of being naked
and without shame. The quest for
self-esteem is, deep down, an attempt to silence negative verdicts that assault
us from the outside and from within. In Jesus, the Second Adam, the negative
verdicts from the outside and from within are made powerless. There is now no
condemnation for those who are in Him. In Jesus, we no longer have anything to fear,
prove, or hide. There’s no
need to self-medicate. There’s
no need to self-promote or to drop names at parties. There’s
no need to compare or compete.
There’s no need to wear ourselves down by chasing career or applause or respect
or being able to fit into a size four. We are not called to be perfectly
awesome. We are called to be imperfectly faithful, because we have been
perfectly loved, liberated, and highly esteemed by the Most High. It is said that Buddha’s dying
words were, ‘Strive
without ceasing.’ Jesus’
dying words were, ‘It is finished.’ Give me Jesus. Our souls are
glory-vacuums, fearfully and wonderfully made for an Esteem greater than self. And He esteems us much. The One who made the galaxies
with His breath has said so.” Scott SaulsHEART SAVOR
·
God
desires for His children to be in His Presence as Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:25 –
feeling no shame because of the blood of Jesus.
Believers stand whiter than snow in the righteousness of Christ.
·
God’s
forgiveness lead to peace not guilt and shame.
·
Christians
can approach the throne of grace unashamedly.
