Shame Is The Tool of The Enemy

Many Christians who believe in the forgiveness of Christ often struggle with guilt and shame, even after coming to a saving experience in Christ. Shame is that awful thing that hinders our trust in the Lord and becomes a roadblock to intimacy with God. In a previous article, I dealt with guilt, but in this article I want to deal with the fruit of guilt, which is shame. Shame is the emotional feeling that can stop our development emotionally, physiologically and practically as we seek to develop our God given abilities. If a person has unresolved guilt, or what I call “Shadow” guilt, shame chains us to our yesterday. 

Here is a simple definition of shame:

A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.

Satan’s whole intent with humanity is to ruin us because we are made in the image of God. If he can’t keep us from a relationship with God then he will do everything in his power to distort that relationship and keep it from becoming all that God desires. The gospel of John says Satan’s intent is to steal, kill and destroy, and part of the pathway to that goal is using shame to hinder our walk with God and for God.

I recently read an article on Satan’s tactics, which defined them as the “3 D’s.” He uses “Deception, Distraction & Discouragement” to twist our understanding of both forgiveness, redemption and transformation. If Satan can deceive us about what God’s word says about forgiveness then he can keep us stuck in the past. If he can motivate us to fight the wrong battles in our lives then he keeps us in defeat rather than victory, and if those two things happen then he has us trapped in discouragement.

I read an interesting article on how shame changes and affects the brain. This article reveals the hidden trauma that shame has on our lives if not dealt with through the power of God. Let me first state that shame is the result of perceived failure either by intention or by deception. Shame is and can be a motivator to address the problems of a bad choice, or it can be a “Land” we dwell in.

When faced with shame, the brain reacts as if it were facing physical danger, and activates the sympathetic nervous system generating the flight/fight/freeze response. The flight response triggers the feeling of needing to disappear, and children who have this response will try to become invisible.

Shame is the painful emotion that is caused by a consciousness of guilt, failure, or perceived wrong, that often results in the paralyzing conviction/belief that one may feel worthless or of little to no value to others or to God. Because Satan works on the mind and is unseen he moves in our soul to convince us first to do wrong and then he blames and shames us for doing it. Even Christians are often not taught to recognize when Satan is manipulating their mind and soul and, because we fail to develop a hearing ear of the Holy spirit’s voice, we often can’t tell if the voice we hear is Satan, God or ourselves. A battle of confusion is a battle that most likely will be lost.

King David spoke of his awareness that shame can and will affect his walk with God.  Therefore, he asked that he would not be put to shame. He knew that God’s commandments were the safeguard to keep him from walking into things that would cause him shame. He knew that shame was a natural consequence of wrongs done. His strategy was to learn from God’s word how he should act regardless of the circumstances.

Psalms 119:31-32     I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame! I shall run the way of Your commandments, for you will enlarge my heart.

The apostle Paul wrote how God uses shame in a positive way to expose the world’s foolish behavior which people often believe to be wise. Turn on the nightly news and you can see the what was once wrong behavior is now called good and good behavior is called bad. Now to be clear, God does not use shame to hurt us but to be the tool to draw us to himself. Satan, on the other hand, has no intention of using shame to help us but to kill us.

1 Corinthians 1:27       But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

David understood that trusting in God was the only way strong enough to overcome and deal with shame. He believed that God’s forgiveness was the antidote to making mistakes and creating guilt and shame.  He believed that trusting God and his word was the solution to shame and it’s attack on our souls. Let me clarify that if we are acting contrary to God’s word and are “IN” sin then naturally we will feel guilt and shame. Only when we confess our sin will God forgive it and cleanse us from shame.

Psalms 25:1-3             In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. [2] I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. [3] No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

I am reminded how James, the half brother of Jesus, wrote the powerful admonition to “Confess” our sin to one another that we may be healed. I think the average person has not set up the practice nor habit of doing just that and thus we carry around with us the shame of past mistakes. When James mentions the practice of confession he says that we may be healed. Is it possible many believers carry around emotional pain from their past even though Jesus has forgiven them? I think more people than we realize look at James’ word on healing and only think he is referring to physical healing.

James 5:16                Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Here are some suggestions when dealing with shame:

1) If you feel shame over a sin you need to determine if is it clearly written out that God calls your actions sin or is it other people?

2) If God’s word defines your action as sinful, have you confessed that sin to him and asked for his forgiveness? ( 1 John 1:9)

3) If after confessing your sin you still feel shame seek others to pray over you in order to rebuke Satan’s lie and get free from that false guilt.

I am reminded of what Jesus spoke to a pharisee who was ashamed of a woman Jesus forgave.  Jesus rebuked Simon for his judgment and false belief that this woman should be ashamed of who she was. She came and anointed Jesus’ feet and head with very costly oil knowing full well the pharisees attitude towards her. Here is what Jesus said about this woman, that could be said about us, if we have been forgiven by Jesus.

Luke 7:47              For this reason I say to you, her sins which are many have been forgiven for …..“She Loved Much” but he who is forgiven little loves little.

Questions:

1) Are you struggling with shame from your past mistakes? If God has forgiven you why are you holding on to the shame now?

2) If you still can’t get over your feeling of shame, do the following: Seek mature people at your church to pray a prayer of mercy over your life and get free in the name of Jesus.

Pastor Dale