Moving on from Shame:

I was working at the Bridge recently, and we were at a neighborhood night.  Neighborhood nights are when we get together at someone’s house to serve the kids and community in that neighborhood food.  It is also a chance to get to know one another and play some games.  We started having a good time.  We played some four square with the kids, and we were getting ready to serve them food when the worst moment I have ever had at a Bridge occurred and one of the most traumatizing moments in my life in general.  A pit bull came out and attacked one of our ten-year-old boys.  We ended up having to call 911 where he was taken away into surgery in order to repair all the skin and muscle damage that was done to him.  We had to then, of course, call the police in order to take away the pit bull, and we had to get the rest of the kids away from the situation.  

There is a lot of guilt that many of us are thinking and feeling on the team.  Why did I not step in front of the dog?  Why didn’t I react faster?  Why did we bring him to our neighborhood night?  Why did any of this happen at our event?  I know that it can be very easy to start questioning ourselves and become filled with shame.  We can have shame and guilt because of something that we have experienced or something that we have done or even something that we can’t control.  The Devil is really good at using this moment of shame and our guilt to tear us away from the Lord and to make a big wedge between the two of us. He doesn’t want us to feel loved by our Father and Creator, so he creates shame so we don’t feel as though we can have a substantial relationship.  

The Bible brings up the topic of shame on a regular basis.  There are a lot of warnings about loving the world and loving the things in the world that then we should be filled with shame.  This is specifically in the Old Testament a lot.  However, then you will also read that Jesus died on the cross, bearing all of our shame, and then resurrected from the dead conquering that same sin and shame.  Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, the Bible then reminds us that we should not be ashamed of the Lord’s testimony, and we should not feel any shame when we are found in the Lord’s love and message.  When we are a believer and a child of God, we should not feel any shame for any wrong that we have done because we have been forgiven.  We can learn from our mistakes and choose to grow closer to the Lord instead. 1 Peter 4:16 declares, “However  if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.”  

I know that we all experience shame in different ways.  This may be sin that we struggle with.  This may be our body and ashamed of our looks.  These may be decisions that we have made in the past.  However, regardless of the shame that you have currently or in the past few years, it is important to remember that God loves us and wants to forgive us for any wrongdoing.  This all reminds me of one of my favorite songs which happen to be “The Father’s House,” by Cory Asbury.  (Side note-I really do love Cory Asbury-he really has amazing songs!) One of the lyrics is “Leave your shame at the door because it ain’t welcome anymore.”  How notable is that lyric?  Your shame is not welcomed by the Lord or in his house.  He wants you to be there without any shame or guilt.  

One goal I will set myself for this week is to spend some time journaling what I am ashamed of.  I am going to try to think more about what it is that I feel ashamed of and where I feel the most shame.  I then am going to ask someone to talk to about it and then to spend some time in prayer over this shame that I have.  This is also going to be my challenge for you this week.  I know this is a bigger challenge, but I believe that it is important for us all to be aware of what it is that brings us shame and to bring that to someone that we love and who loves us.  Then to finally bring this to the Lord, so we can continue to conquer shame and conquer over the enemy that is bringing us that shame.  We are not going to be perfect while we are on the earth.  We can continue to grow closer to God, but we can not continue to stay in the shame because that will not help us in our relationship and it is not welcomed by the Lord.  

To give an update, that 10-year-old boy had surgery and is doing a lot better.  We went as a summer team with his sister and picked out a gift to give to him.  When we gave him the gift, he was so very excited and happy.  It was a new video game, candy, and Gatorade.  He instantly went to play his new game.  He even gave us all hugs because he was so ecstatic with the new gift.  He is one tough boy, and I am so happy that this is not going to take away his happiness or his spirit.