Shame RX: Seeing shame differently gives us understanding and power over shame.
Shame is so sneaky it catches us off guard. We don’t recognize it half the time, either. Then we realize we are accommodating shame in our lives. We make excuses for it, trivialize it—anything to just get the residue off of our souls. But we’ve learned by now that those methods are not effective, right?
Yesterday I was so disappointed in my youngest son’s actions. Again. And then I felt it. Shame. Shame because I felt like a failure as a parent. Have you ever been there? When you just don’t know how to get through to one of your kids. And then I asked God to help me see it differently. My son’s sin struggles I had taken personally. (Buzzer sound effect – wrong answer). Understanding his background (we adopted him at age two and a lot of behavior he has exhibited since then), I see the hurdles he has to overcome and they are HARD. Suddenly, my shame shifts to compassion for him. Seeing shame differently helped me to take the focus off of myself and to see the real need underneath.