It’s Free Friday! What are you going to be free from today? The choice is yours to let it go. To celebrate Free Friday, I’m giving away a free copy of “The Shack: Reflections for Every Day of the Year” by William Paul Young. Keep reading to find out how.
Shame is defined by dictionary.com as “the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another.” There’s not a single person who ever lived, besides Jesus, who didn’t do one of those things. The problem with shame is that it can imprison us and keep us from moving forward even after we’ve been forgiven. It can dominate our thoughts and make us feel worthless. The sad part is that we don’t just have to do the action ourselves. Sometimes what someone else does to us can make us feel shame too.
If we’re not careful we can end up in a prison of shame through no fault of our own. An action that was done to us by someone we trusted can create those feelings of worthlessness, pain and embarrassment. If we’re not careful, those feelings of shame can turn into bitterness. Bitterness can then turn into hatred. Hatred can keep us from forgiving. If we can’t forgive even the worst offenses done to us, we ourselves can’t be forgiven by God. We have to learn to forgive the ones who have brought shame on us. When we forgive them, we release ourselves from the mental bondage we were held in.
I’m not saying the pain will go away. I still feel the pain years later, but I’m not held in a prison of hatred and shame anymore. Instead of being in bondage, I use that pain to speak to others who have been shamed by someone else. It is possible to forgive the unforgivable. It is possible to move forward after you’ve been seriously wronged. I know it’s a tough mental battle to get rid of the feelings of shame and to be able to find forgiveness for them and yourself. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s a process that takes time, but it starts with one choice, forgiveness, and only you can make that choice.
It took me years to get to that point. I held on to the pain and those thoughts weighed me down. They kept me from reaching my potential. They kept me from an intimate relationship with God. They affected every other relationship I had. Those thoughts are so harmful and are designed to isolate you from the people who do love you and truly care for you. You must make the choice to release yourself from something you’ve done or someone else for what they’ve done if you truly want to get rid of shame. You must find a way to forgive them if you want God to forgive you. Today, make the choice to start down the road of being free from shame.
If you’d like to win “The Shack: Reflections for Every Day of the Year” by William Paul Young which is collection of highlights from the book “The Shack”, you have three ways to enter today. The first way you can get your name in the drawing is by signing up to receive Devotions by Chris in your email. The second way is to go to www.facebook.com/devotionsbychris and like my page. The third way you can enter is by going to that Facebook page and liking one of today’s statuses. Anyone who does any of those three things today, December 7, 2013, will be entered. I’ll draw tomorrow morning and announce the winner on my Facebook page. If you win, send me a private message with the address you’d like the book shipped to.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 