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Shame is that terrible, usually private feeling that something is wrong with you. That feeling may come from your past sins, or from lies you’ve believed about yourself, from abusive treatment you may have received from others—there are any number of triggers that can cause you to feel shame. Sometimes these feelings of shame may lie dormant for long periods of time, when things are going well in your life, but when you find yourself in periods of great stress, that shame can surface and cause great harm. You may think you’ve got that shame under control, but if you’ve never asked Jesus to heal you of that shame, don’t be surprised to discover that it will keep raising its ugly head every chance it gets.
Here’s more good news about how we can be delivered from the bondage of shame. Any time you feel that shame, if you will at that moment recognize that it is a lie from the pit of hell, and deal with those feelings of shame right then, you can confront the causes of that shame and address it head on.
For example, if you start thinking those thoughts of shame today, instead of indulging in them, find some place where you can be alone for a few minutes, and address those lies. Refuse to accept that shame; talk to God and ask for strength to put those wrong thoughts out of your mind and replace them with truth. And talk back to your enemy, Satan, telling him you are not fooled by his lies and you refuse to be condemned by him, because there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
As you become more and more aware of how those thoughts of shame invade your mind, and you stop each time to confront them and reject them, you will be building spiritual muscle and you will be fighting back with the powerful divine weapons that we have to demolish strongholds, as we read in 2 Corinthians 10. Quote scripture to those feelings of shame; talk out loud to them if you can, and remind yourself who you are in Christ. You do not have to accept that shame any longer. Jesus came to set you free.
Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” You can know freedom from the bondage of shame if you continually stand firm against the lies of Satan.
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