- “That would’ve ruined my life forever!”
Genesis 2:25 // Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
- You can only be loved to the extent you are known.
- Shame never comes from God.
- Guilt & Shame
- Guilt says, I deserve to be PUNISHED.
Shame says, I am WORTHLESS.
- Guilt says I DID bad.
Shame says I AM bad.
- Which of these feelings do you seek to avoid the most?
Shame - 38%
Guilt - 31%
Fear - 30%
- Which of these desires is strongest in your life?
Personal Freedom - 40%
To Overcome - 28%
Respect - 31%
Genesis 2:25 // Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Genesis 3:1-13 // Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Three Questions of Shame:
1. Did God really say that?
2. Where are you?
3. Who told you that you were naked?
Shame Based Thinking:
- We are vulnerable to PERFECTIONISM.
- We are CRITICAL of ourselves, making us CRITICAL of others.
- We use self-defeating THOUGHTS as a form of protection and escape.
Isaiah 54:4 NLT // “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth…”
The only way to heal from shame is to move the FOCUS from what I’m not to who Christ is.
1 John 1:9 // If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
- I am not ________________.
- Because of Christ I am ________________.
