The Only Way We Can Overcome the Debilitating Power of Shame
Remember the Scriptures
Shame is undoubtedly one of the most crippling and destructive experiences in the human soul. One reason for that is that I think to a certain extent, we’re all hardwired for self-punishment. We tend to be extremely hard on our own souls, very demanding. There is a spectrum of individuals. Some have a hyper-sensitive conscience, and there others who are really confident in the forgiveness that God has brought to them in Christ through faith in him.
Sometimes the sense of shame can be so overwhelming. By shame, I’m talking about not simply the idea of conviction of guilt—which the spirit of God awakens in us so that we can repent and have restored intimacy with the Lord—but shame tells me not simply that I’m guilty, but that I’m worthless. Because of my failures and my refusal to honor God the way I should and my willful defiance of his word, there’s this sense that the human soul imposes on itself and that the enemy also aggravates that says I am totally disqualified from the kingdom—not just unqualified, but disqualified. I have this lingering sense of personal worthlessness. I have no value.
A Dozen Things God Did with Your Sin (And Three Things He'll Never Do)
Sam Storms
Walking through the Bible’s teaching, Sam Storms helps believers find freedom, joy, and peace in knowing what God has done (and will never do) with their sin through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus.
To that, God says Look, you’re an image-bearer. I created you and shaped you in my own image. Yes, you feel the conviction of sin, but that doesn’t mean you’re worthless. It doesn’t mean that you have no value. I cherish you as my child—my redeemed, forgiven, adopted son or daughter.
One of the ways that we overcome shame is to preach the gospel to our souls
One of the ways that we overcome shame is to preach the gospel to our souls. We have to take all that the word of God says to us about the grace of God and what he’s done for us in Jesus and constantly and daily preach that to ourselves. We have to meditate on Scripture, memorize these texts that talk about what God has done with our sin, and constantly remind ourselves.
Over time, that’s what the Spirit of God uses to transform our thinking, to reignite the fervor of our hearts, and to deeply transform our capacity to feel the delight that God has for us in Jesus.
Sam Storms is the author of A Dozen Things God Did With Your Sin (And Three Things He’ll Never Do.
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