Shame is such an effective tool, that we give satan the day off. A lot of people act like satan himself is sitting on their shoulder getting them to do all kinds of things they aren’t supposed to do. But in reality, he couldn’t care less about you. All the enemy, or adversary, has to do is introduce shame real early in to our lives. Since it is self-perpetuating from generation to generation, he barely has to do anything. Our parents were shamed, and their parents were shamed, etc. until it is just a cycle of shaming behavior. We deal with shame at home, school, on the job, in the church, in society, in the government, to the point that we don’t even recognize it as shaming behavior and may even think it’s good to shame some people.
Shame tells us we are bad. We did something bad and therefore we are bad. The problem with BEING bad is that you can’t just change who you ARE. You can change what you DO, and that should be the focus, the behavior.
Guilt says you DID something you shouldn’t have done and need to correct that action. It doesn’t attack the person, it attacks the behavior.
Once shame starts in us, we do all of satan’s work in our own life, and in other’s lives. Satan wants nothing more than to make us of none effect. Shame stops us in our tracks and paralyzes us. We get to where we are to scared to move forward, because our past(shame) has defined us.
Shame defines us. It says, “This is who you are. You are bad. You are not enough.”
I lose my temper and yell at the kids to shut -up, and shame tells me I’m a bad dad. I ignore my wife because I’m in a bad mood, and shame tells me I’m a bad husband. I forget to pray or read the Bible and shame tells me I’m a bad christian. And the list goes on and on.
All of those actions that I took, that I shouldn’t have, I can correct. I can be more patient with the kids, more attentive as a husband, more attentive to prayer and reading the Word. But, I can’t just change who I am.
Also, those things that I could’ve done better, don’t define me. I am a good dad who sometimes loses his temper, I am a good husband who sometimes gets caught up in an activity that I don’t pay enough attention to my wife. I am a good christian who makes mistakes daily. These aren’t bragging statements, they are the way I choose to view myself.
I can choose to be transformed by renewing my mind, or stay defined by shame.
I choose to be reDefined!
jareddoran 