SHAME ON YOU!

"Shame on you!" "You ought to be ashamed!" How many of us have heard that pronounced over us? As a child you may have wet the bed, sucked your thumb, got a bad grade, messed up in sports, or any number of things that resulted in someone trying to "shame" you into the right behavior. Chances are, you've probably done the same thing to someone. No one ever intends to be ugly when they say these things, but that doesn't change the results or consequences. Some would call these "word curses". This type of belittlement can affect people in different ways.

As an adult, you don't necessarily hear the phrase "shame on you", but shame carves it's way into your life through embarrassing things done by your children, spouse, situations on the job, hiding sins such as pornography, overeating, alcohol, jealousy, etc. Many children and adults feel it is "their job" to cover for their loved ones who do shameful things.

Shame, as defined by Webster, is a painful feeling of having lost the respect of others because of improper behavior, etc. It brings a feeling of dishonor, disgrace embarrassment, and humiliation.

Some will do anything to stop or change their behavior so that they do not come under shameful accusations. Others try to hide the behavior so it won't be seen. And there are some who just continue in the same pattern. They are either unwilling or incapable of doing anything different.

Gen 2:25, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (embarrassed)." Shame was not a part of God's original plan for man. It came into being as a result of Adam and Eve's disobedience. They "hid" themselves from the presence of God when they became ashamed. That is why the tendency to hide shameful behavior is often a first response.

Shame can be a curse which must be broken - Jer 3:24-25, "For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

Confusion can be a companion of shame - We see that in the aforementioned reference in Jeremiah. It is referenced again in Ps 44:15 "My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me."

David prayed throughout the Psalms concerning confusion and shame - that his enemies would be confounded and ashamed! He put shame right back into the court of the enemy!

Ps 40:14 "Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil." Ps 70:2 "Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt." Ps 109:29 "Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle."

There can be physical effects resulting from shame - Pr 12:4 "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness (decay) in his bones." This Scripture brings to mind such things as bone cancer, gangrene, etc.

Shame would like to remain hidden in your life, operating behind the scenes in such a way that you are not even aware of it's influence in your life. Oftentimes shame has entered into a person early in life, and because of it's activity, protective walls are set in place to protect the individual from being vulnerable. These "walls or spirits" operate through our personalities and until God knows we are ready to let Him remodel that part of us, we live with "personality traits" which have resulted because of some form of shameful behavior. Parents have an awesome responsibility to protect their children from becoming victims of shame. Pr 29:15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself (undisciplined) bringeth his mother to shame."

There are 217 Scriptures that contain the word "shame", i.e. shameful, ashamed, etc. We could only find 3 references where shame included part of a person's name, i.e. Shamer. The remaining 214 Scriptures deal with shame. We find Jesus, in both the Old and New Testament, to be the provision for our freedom from ALL shame. Isa 50:6 "I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting." Heb 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

If this brief article has stirred something in you, we encourage you to search the Scriptures concerning shame and be willing to allow Jesus the freedom to uproot the very core of shame in your life. Nothing has happened to you that He is not aware of. He knows all your secrets. His love and compassion for you will protect you through the deliverance and healing process and bring complete freedom in this area. His Word is a comfort when it comes to digging deep into our very being to extract these enemies of our soul - they are actually His enemies - they are not a part of His Kingdom! 2Co 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." The "becoming new" is a process which is a direct result of how willing we are to allow the "old things" to pass away! Article compiled by Patti King (For more on this subject obtain the book Shame Free by Bill & Sue Banks from LHBC -$8.00 + s/h)

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