No more guilty shame

We all know the sting of shame. It drives some to despair, others to extravagant attempts to prove their worth to themselves or others. Some try to erase shame by denying their words or actions, pretending it never happened, or at least not in the way others think. Others move to a new place looking to start over with some past disgrace hopefully left behind. 

Feelings of shame and/or inferiority leads to all kinds of dysfunctional behavior. Paradoxically, shame over some past experience may even drive a person to more self-destructive choices.

At the heart of Christianity is the promise of forgiveness and restoration, that we need no longer hide our failures or pretend that we are better than what we know of ourselves. In Christ’s love shame can be erased! The Scriptures says “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2)

The word ‘righteousness’ is not part of our everyday vocabulary so we may miss the assurance found there. God says that Jesus was crucified, hanging there on the Cross in shame, so that we can, through faith, become ‘right,’ without guilty shame in the Presence of a Holy God. He became ‘sin,’ bore our shame, so that we can not just be forgiven, but pardoned and justified!

There is a story in John’s Gospel that reveals the old way of religion that increases shame with the New Way of Christ that removes the terrible curse. "The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?"

As those men shamed that woman Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. It seemed like He was ignoring her pain while they kept badgering him. Finally, He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt. Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?" "No one, Master." "Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin." (John 8:3-11, The Message)

He neither denied the reality of her failure, nor did He heap guilty shame on her. He gave forgiveness and pointed to a new way of life. Can you imagine what she felt at that moment? At one moment an outcast, publicly humiliated; in the next, a person of worth, shown great grace and deep love!

And this is the same Jesus who loves you and me! As we begin the New Year, let’s not be driven to religious perfectionism or attempt to hide our own sense of shame by pointing out the flaws of others. Instead, let’s be loved to life and become those who offer amazing grace to those who live in shame.

Remember the whole story of the Good News of Jesus. He calls us to live the potential life of the Spirit, seeing through His eyes who we can become in Him. We cannot perfect ourselves, but we can be ‘made righteous’ by His gift of love. The Cross is for us both a symbol of terrible shame and tremendous glory, for there the worst of sin met the amazing grace of God.

Let the word from the Word today occupy your thoughts throughout the day - "You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross." (Colossians 2:13-15, NLT)

Are you living in shame? There is no need to stay there any longer.
The One who knows you best, loves you most!

______________________

Video of this blog at this link-  https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

 

Faith is not easy

Over the years times brought me testing of my faith! How about you?

When I was in my early thirties, faith was battered by the experience of a church split. I was astonished at the cruelty and selfishness of those who claimed Christ as Lord. Many questions about the reality of the Christian experience rose in me. I came to realize that we are all ‘in process’ and that Jesus is the only Perfect One.

In my mid-forty’s my faith was nearly extinguished by a terrible depression that lasted over a year. It made prayer seemingly impossible. The Hope of Christ was hidden in a deep fog of confusion and fear. Only the love of family and friends, the power of the Word, and the intervention of a caring physician brought renewal. I learned that God’s Light shines even in the darkest night.

Faith is not simple, nor is it easy, but what reward comes from enduring the hardships, becoming willing to live with the mysteries of suffering, sadness, and unanswered questions. Psalm 40 is true!

We read there
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”

St. John of the Cross called the season of faith-testing - the "dark night of the soul."   I have found those times like traveling through a desert, a journey that makes the soul dry, parched. Temptation comes to find relief, anywhere, anyway we can!

Even Jesus experienced it. When He was in the wilderness, fasting and praying, He felt Himself alone and Satan whispered to Him about turning stones into bread, about forcing a crisis with His Father by throwing Himself off of the temple walls! He did not fail, nor will we – IF we lean hard on the Word as He did. He answered the Tempter by saying ‘it is written.’

The faith chapter (Hebrews 11) describes those whose prayers were apparently unanswered, who were persecuted, imprisoned, and impoverished because of Christ Jesus. Then we read this challenge – “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (v.36)

A moment ago we read about the importance of ‘waiting patiently for the Lord.’ 
Will you? Will I?

When faith becomes difficult, when questions and even doubts come, when God is silent, choose to persevere!  How?

1. Don’t abandon the church and the fellowship of worship.

2. Take the long view, remembering that today’s crisis will pass. Eternity will come.

3.  Weep! Repressed emotions are a poisonous brew. Let your heart be broken. Tears are a language that God understands.

4. Grit your teeth and hang on as you choose to do the right thing even if your heart is not in it.  This is the promise- “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”  (James 1:12)

May we be encouraged to remain steady by this word from the Word.
“When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken. "O LORD, when you favored me, you made my mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed. … 
Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me; O LORD, be my help. You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever." (Psalm 30:4-12, NIV)

As we enter the New Year, let us pray for renewed faith, for courage, for the Spirit to lead us to light and life.

Amen