Confronting Shame - Martin Wiles

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Genesis 3:7 NLT

What I wanted to do to cover my shame, I couldn’t.

My teen years were rough—but not because they had to be. I had a wonderful Christian family who loved me and attempted to steer me in the right direction. But I had rebellion on my mind. I didn’t want their lifestyle. The hippie culture pulled me in directions my parents hated and I shouldn’t have gone.

Having a good spiritual foundation, my going in this opposite direction brought shame—shame I didn’t know how to deal with. If I would have had a choice, I would have stopped going to church, but I was a preacher’s kid and forced to go.

My rebellion continued after I graduated from high school and left home. I tried some other things to handle my shame. I didn’t go to church as often, I slacked up on reading my Bible, and I hung around with those who shared my new lifestyle. Eventually, I did the only thing I could do to deal with my shame.

Adam and Eve did the only thing they knew to do as well after eating from the tree God had told them to leave alone: tried to cover their nakedness … their shame … by sewing fig leaves together. It didn’t work.

When I sin against God, shame follows. When I don’t live the life He desires, He’ll bring on the guilt. Not because He wants me to feel miserable, but because He wants to form me into His likeness and image, which brings present and eternal joy.

I can try to ignore my shame over my disobedience, but it won’t go away. The only cure now is the cure I finally tried as a young adult: confession. When I finally did that, God restored me, and the shame and guilt left.

Occasionally, the shame over my past sins returns, but I quickly deal with it. God doesn’t bring up sins He’s forgiven. That’s the enemy’s job. So I tell him to leave me alone. The blood of God’s Son has covered my sins and freed me from a guilty conscience.

If your lifestyle is causing you shame, confess it to God and let Him help you live as He desires. If shame over past sins you’ve confessed haunts you, tell the enemy to go back where he came from. Christ’s blood has cleansed you.

Prayer: Father, thank You for covering our shame and guilt with the blood of Your Son.

Tweetable: Is shame holding you back? 

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