God's Honour for Our ShameSýnishorn

Brenda moved like a shadow between the hospital beds holding her infant daughter in her arms. She pocketed bread crusts and scraped up remnants of porridge with her fingers. She lived here now, as ill as the patients, but without any money for treatment. Without money for school fees, she left home young, hoping a job in the city would change her life. Instead, she became pregnant and abandoned by the child’s father, and discovered months later she was HIV positive. For this, her family forbid her from returning to them. Shame became her home.

Where did shame first come from? Before sin, people experienced a perfect relationship with their creator. After sin, suddenly, they experienced uncomfortable realities that were totally new. Adam and Eve tried to rid themselves of these bad feelings. The first was fear — to solve their fear, the people hid to protect themselves. The second was guilt –they shifted blame to one another. The last was shame – they covered their bodies with leaves.

This was the start of shame, that feeling of needing to cover up the flaw to be accepted. Shame still whispers to us that we are unworthy, incapable of being loved.

So we try to construct honour to cover ourselves, fragile as fig leaves.

But God didn’t leave his children with frail coverings. With his own hand, He sewed them clothing to wear when leaving paradise. Because they were his children, He gave them a gift out of love!

God offers us a covering too! Through what Jesus accomplished, our guilt, fear, and shame can be erased! Not partially or temporarily, but fully and for all time. When we accept God’s offer of forgiveness, He sees us as though we are worthy of all honour, as if we are beautiful, beloved, and blessed, just like He sees Jesus.

Honour happened for Brenda when a local church and Compassion centre reached out with love. Not only did they provide for her needs and medications, but they also welcomed her into their community. Church staff paid for an apartment out of their pockets while building her a multi-room furnished house. The shame became invisible because a community treated her as worthy of being loved.

That is the way that God has called the church to respond to people living in shame. This response tells the truth about the honour God offers each of us, a lasting covering.

What do you most need to have ‘covered’ in your life? What have you been doing to cover it yourself?

Pray and tell God the areas of your life where you experience shame. Picture God creating coverings for each one of them out of his love for you. Ask God to forgive failures, cover shame, and restore you.