In last week’s article, we dealt with the issue of shame as the two-faced tormentor. Having considered its symptoms and the suffering it causes, in this blog we will look at how the Christian is to deal with false, toxic, illegitimate shame.

The Only Solution for the Unholy Trinity is Provided in the Gospel!

The astounding truth is that the gospel of God provides all that we need, both before we are saved and after we are saved, to fix the mess and the mistaken shame and blame we wear. The gospel is the solution for true shame and false shame. It’s the answer for factual guilt incurred by our sins, and false guilt imposed by ourselves and others. It is the solution for true fear – of God – and false fear of man, devil, and demons.

Jesus’ death on the cross was a perfect answer to our guilt problem. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus’ crucifixion was also a perfect answer to our shame problem. He “endured the cross, despising its shame” (Heb. 12:2).

“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more“(Is. 54:4).

What’s the Answer for Shame?

For the Child of God dealing with false, toxic, illegitimate shame, the first steps toward breaking the shackles of shame is to:

1. Identify the Lies that You Believe - Christians functioning under the tormenting face of false shame have no sense of identity, thus they never feel at home in Father God’s Family and must pretend to be someone they are not in order to be accepted. They view themselves as having worth based on what they do. They live by trying to do unto others before they do it unto them again.

Shame causes the Christian to believe that they are unwanted, unloved, unacceptable, unclean, unneeded, unworthy, and unfit to even live.

2. Certify the Life that You Have Received - John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

Roms. 5:17, “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

3. Notify the Demons that They Must Leave! As you came to Jesus as your Deliverer, now claim the promise of God’s Word that, “Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be delivered” (Joel 2:32). Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver you and set you free from guilt, shame, and fear. Speak to any and every demonic spirit, declaring, “I renounce you and all your works. I declare that you have no place in me nor any power over me. I loose myself from you, in the name of Jesus, and command you to leave me right now, in Jesus’ name.”

4. Apply the Whole Gospel that You Have Misperceived - Most Christians have received Christ as the one who bore their sins on the cross but not their shame. Hebrews 12:2, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

As a child of God, I am in Christ and Christ is in me. I am a Designer’s original, and despite what others may consider to be a defect in God’s design, he made me for greater effect.

I am not unloved or unwanted, but I am one of the few, the free and the forgiven. I am not condemned or cursed but chosen of God and called of the Spirit and made complete in Christ.

I am not shamed or blamed but reclaimed by the grace of God!

I have a shame-off-me Relationship in God’s Spiritual House - I have been selected by the Father, saved by the Son, shaped by the Spirit to fit into God’s master building project – the Temple of God - an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

I have shame-off-me Fellowship in God’s Family. I belong to the only Family that has a never-ending future!

I have a shame-off-me Membership in the Holy, Royal Priesthood - 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…”

I have a shame-off-me Citizenship in a Holy Nation - 1 Peter 2:9; Eph 2:19. My residence has been established. I am no more a stranger and foreigner living on a visa, subject to deportation. I am by the grace of God a “free-born” citizen of God’s kingdom. My passport is stamped, “Paid in full by the blood of Christ.”

I am a shame-off-me object of God’s Workmanship - Eph 2:10. I am a saint, a soldier, a sheep, a stranger and pilgrim. I am a cracked clay pot that contains the treasure of Christ in me my hope of Glory.– 2 Cor 4:7

I am who I am because God said that’s who I am. I am not, in spite of what I, or others think or say, worthless, useless, aimless, meaningless, purposeless, or valueless.

SHAME OFF ME AND YOU!

The really good news, when you receive and believe it, is that you no longer will live under shame’s tormenting face, but under Father God’s Loving Face with a smile on it - not because of what you’re doing, but because of what Jesus has done!

We can, with the eyes of faith, behold God’s face: “Look to him [God], and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed” (Ps 34:5). On three occasions Psalm 80 says, “Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved”. To see God’s face implies royal access. God’s face is his gracious and honorable presence. God’s people stand in God’s presence and connect intimately with the God of glory. Seeing the face of God is our greatest honor in so many ways.

By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, I am delivered from the unholy trinity of guilt, shame, and fear, and birthed into an all-consuming, all-encompassing, all-enthralling worship of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST!