๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐๐:๐ (๐๐๐) โ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ค ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.โ
Ever feel guilty about something or shamed by a person or group? You don’t even know what you did to deserve this treatment and you don’t know how to get rid of it.
I get it. It can be hard to overcome those thoughts because they often reside in our own mind.
The term “Shameless” has been used recently in our culture to condone a brazen lifestyle that laughs at shame as if that can remove our guilt and shame. But shame remains even for those who say it doesn’t. Like the fools mentioned in the passage above, making fun of guilt will only perpetuate its effect on us. But when we acknowledge shame’s existence, we can do something about it.
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๐
๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ.
Whatever the source of our shame, we can’t get rid of it merely by saying it has no effect. Our mind battles with the residual effects of shame over and over again unless we deal with shame appropriately. Looking deeper into the feelings of shame might reveal the true root causes of shame, so we are aiming at the correct target.
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๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐
Shame is a mental battle. It can be so hard when people shun us, gossip about us and try to keep us in a box, but shame only remains when we let it defeat us. We have to have our minds saturated in the word of God to extinguish shame.
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๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ.
Proverbs 15:3 reminds us of an important principle regarding shame. Humility restores honor. We cannot get rid of shame just by saying we are shameless. โFear of the LORD teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor.โ Having the humility to apply God’s word to our lives helps us to overcome shame in our livesโshame from others, shame from our own brain, shame from circumstances.
It is hard to believe this month that it has been a year since my book, “Shame Off You”, hit the shelves. If you struggle with shame, God can set you free!