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Letting Go of Shame

I remember it so clearly. I asked someone I respected to please pray for me. When they asked what about, all I could think to say was that I just felt like there was something wrong with me. Like, deep down, at my core, wrong with me. I was an adult, but I didn’t have the words. 

It was shame. 

To be clear, it wasn’t guilt. Guilt is about recognizing you’ve made a mistake. Shame is feeling that you are a mistake. Big difference.

Shame convinces us that the real us must stay hidden, because no one wants to see the real us. It leaves us terrified by the thought that the real us is exactly who God sees. That’s exactly what I was experiencing because of things that were said and done to me a long time ago. Those words and actions embedded themselves in me and became a false lens on my own self-image.

Here’s some truth: God does see the real us, every bit of us, and He still opens His arms with love for us. When He looks at those of us who follow Christ, He sees spotless daughters and sons because Jesus died to take the place of our shame. I, we, can let go of shame and embrace the value He places on us.

That all sounds really good, and it is, but here’s what I’ve learned. Letting go of shame isn’t a “once and done” kind of deal. For me, shame is removed like layers stripped away as I realize and reject each specific lie I’ve believed. Then, I check each piece of shame onto a one-way flight far away from me as I discover and unpack specific truths from God’s Word to replace each lie. 

Letting go of shame may not be quick, easy, or simple, but it is light. God doesn’t buy the garbage you’ve believed about yourself, but He will haul it away for you, if you’ll let Him.  

Amanda, taking out the shame

Act: Identify lies you’ve believed and start living and declaring God’s truths instead. www.life.church/declarations