Shame RX: The acceptance of God is our refuge when we feel shame from the scorn of man.

John 12:43 (ESV)

“For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

I have a confession to make. As much as I could care less about popularity, it is hard when you are in the presence of others who have been tainted by gossip they heard about you. You can feel the disdain, and this, sometimes from Christians.

So then, unpopularity is a shaming of sorts. That place where you feel minimized, judged, shunned and sometimes excluded simply because you are not liked.

Well, we all know it is more simple than that. It is a spiritual matter.

People don’t pause to reflect or consider why they feel a certain way about another person. Someone may have influenced them with a negative viewpoint about another individual but they don’t recognize that the person they are despising is so very loved by God and unconditionally forgiven. And while we are on the subject of forgiveness, if someone had done something wrong, ought we not to forgive and accept them as we have been forgiven and accepted?

So while man goes around seeking to defame one another, the Lover of our souls esteems us.

The acceptance of God is our refuge when we feel shame from the scorn of man.

Lack of popularity with man might be the very thing that gives us favor with God. Instead of being distracted by seeking favor with man, we see our real need—to seek God and His forgiveness.

Pursuing favor with man can ultimately be idolatry and a problem with pride. When we lay down that need for man’s affirmation, we are free to live for One. And His acceptance lasts forever.

Christ knew what it was to be followed by huge crowds and not all of them were his friends. Some wanted something from him, some wanted to trap him, some were jealous of His powerful anointing, authority and ministry and still others simply wanted Him and to be in His presence. And then ultimately, crowds surrounded Him to kill him.

Who surrounds you? Don’t desire man’s favor. It is deceptive. It is fickle. Pursue God’s, instead. You will never be more loved then you are right now. Let go of man’s fame or defamation. It does not define who you really are in Christ. Shame off you, friends.

The LORD has shown us how to faithfully walk with God when man is against us. May we follow His example. May we lay down seeking glory for ourselves and just seek to be faithful to the calling of God on our lives. Unconcerned with who likes us and is for us, because our God is for us.

“For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. ³ He was despised and rejected[b] by men, a man of sorrows[c] and acquainted with[d] grief;[e] and as one from whom men hide their faces[f] he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

—Isaiah 53:2-6 

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