No, this post doesn't have anything to do with being American, the recent election, or my concerns for our country (though those are all post-worthy, I'm sure). Actually, this post has to do with shame.
Stars. They are what we are awarded for our successes on school papers, it is a name for someone who is popularly successful, they denote worth or achievement or, in the sense of the natural stars, beauty and wonder and even science.
Stripes. Stripes represent a pattern. When it's said that a zebra can't change his stripes, it means that this pattern he displays literally defines him and is beyond his control to change.
Scars. I think everyone knows what scars are, all too well. Whether physical or emotional, they tell the story of pain we have felt in the past, they bear testament to some injury we have suffered.
Shame is a tricky thing. Really, it tricks us. It tricks us into believing lies that otherwise would seem ridiculous and outlandish. Lies like "you're a failure," "you're worthless," "you don't deserve to be cared for," "you can't ask for help," "you're all alone," etc. Perhaps the biggest and most tricky lie that shame sells us is that things will always be the way they have been before. Shame tells us that in our pattern of accruing scars instead of stars, we have no hope of ever breaking free of that pattern, that we will always feel the way we feel now, do the things we do now, think and believe and live the way that we do now, or have in the past.
But those are all lies. (We're not zebras.)
The truth is that our failures do not define our worth. The truth is that we are surrounded by people who passionately care for us regardless of whether or not we deserve it. The truth is that we can ask for help, we can change, and things don't always have to be this way, or the way they were before.
Saying no to the lies that shame sells and saying yes the truths above takes risk. Taking heart, hope, faith---they're all a risk. Risky, not tricky. If we take a chance and hope, there is the potential to be let down. Aren't we down already, when we're living in shame? There's also a chance that we'll hope, and that those truths will turn out to be really true... and we'll be free and we'll have worth and shame will lose its grip.
Isn't that a risk worth taking?
You see, God knew what He was getting Himself into. He knows the depths of our hearts, and He loves us the same... that's why He's amazing. He delights in being our Savior. The God who sends mercy and goodness chasing after you all of the days of your life, the God who crafted you with intention and declared His work "good," is not put off by your shame. He is not ashamed of you, or of your need, rather He draws you to Himself, because He is the fulfillment of your need.
If you were strong enough to always believe in the truth, if you were ever convinced of your own worth apart from Him, then they wouldn't call it faith. If it wasn't absolutely vital to your well-being, then a relationship with Him wouldn't change your life.
But it is, and it does. And He loves that we need Him, because it brings us close to Him, and because HE LOVES US.
The ultimate condemnation for shame in a hypothetical court is that love. Shame claims all those things about us, but it has no case when we present God's love for us... the lies shame tells us cannot be true when we consider the nature of God's love. Unconditional. Neverending. Death-conquering. Healing. Life-bringing. Sin-expelling. Goodness-bringing. Soul-rescuing. Person-redeeming. The kind of love that clothes us in His righteousness and carries us to the table of the Most High. We have never been alone. He has been present since before we began to breathe and has been present throughout every struggle. He is present with you now, in this moment, and He has promised to always be present for all of eternity. That's a big promise, with giant implications.
Shame traps, truth frees. Shame is powerful. But where is the power of darkness when confronted with the light? One small candle can be seen for miles; imagine how God's truth can illuminate the darkness inside of you. Shame tries to keep us down, and it often succeeds. But don't stay down, my dear. Yes, shame is powerful. But shame cannot even begin to approach the power of that unconditional, neverending, death-conquering, life-bring, soul-rescuing, person-redeeming love with which GOD LOVES YOU.
Shame is a lie, and the truth is we are free, we are loved. I am free and loved. You are free and loved. Sometimes we must fight to believe the truth, we must push through the darkness and pray desperately for the truth to invade. Let us rest in this: there is nothing, including shame, that can ever separate us from the love of God that we have through Christ Jesus. <3
