Reframe Your Shame: 7-Day Prayer Guideနမူနာ

Reframe Your Shame

Anything in your life that you experienced shame about can be reframed. New and healthy ways of doing life are available to you if you are willing to do the work. The Holy Spirit is already at work in you—can you begin to see it? He is opening your eyes to things you were unaware of before reading this book.

God is the great author of all our stories! Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus is “the author and finisher of our faith” (NKJV). He is not done writing my story, and He is not done writing yours either! You can reclaim the power of what has been holding you back and reframe your shame.

My counselor gave me the homework assignment to look at myself in the mirror and affirm myself. This was awkward! I forced myself to look into my own eyes and tell myself, “You are beautiful, you are loved, you are enough, God loves you, you are worthy of love, you belong.” Slowly, over time while repeating this exercise, what I saw in the mirror began to change. I saw myself for what seemed like the first time. I noticed my scars, freckles, and imperfections, and I repeated scripture to myself, saying, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made by God. I was made in the secret place, and nothing is hidden from God” (Psalm 139:14–15, my paraphrase). Before long, I began to accept who I was—scars, flaws, and all. My scars have made me beautiful.

After all, Jesus had scars. His scars symbolize freedom, victory, strength, and His reckless love for us. I can reframe the way I look at my scars and accept them as good, and you can too!

How do we do that? We develop shame resilience that makes us more self-aware and willing to accept our scars as beautiful.

Shame is intended to inform us that our positive feelings have been interrupted, and we need to do something about it. Shame is a weapon used by the devil to corrupt and put distance in our relationship with God. The devil uses fear to silence us and shame to sabotage us. Because of this, we need to be reminded that shame was intended to be a signal to make us aware of our inadequacy and our need for a Savior in Jesus Christ. This is the essence of grace: Jesus took on our shame when He died on the cross. He not only endured shame, allowing Him to identify with ours, but He paid the price for our healing of sickness and disease and mental suffering. Hebrews 12:2 says He despised shame and conquered the humiliation of the cross. Jesus demonstrated His extravagant love for us through His suffering, while showing us that shame does not have to have a hold on us. We can defeat shame because of His example and focus on the joy that is to come on the other side of working for freedom from shame.

Grace is unmerited favor, which means that we don’t deserve it and there is nothing we can do to earn it. It is freely given to us. It is ours because God so loved us that He gave His one and only Son that we may be forgiven of our sins and have eternal life (John 3:16).

Grace is difficult to accept even for the most professional and seasoned Christians because we have difficulty wrapping our minds around the notion of such unconditional love and acceptance. What a massive love God has that He would give up His only Son to die a horrific, humiliating, and painful death, so we could be forgiven of our sin nature as human beings.

Having questions and doubts is a perfectly normal part of our spiritual journey and discovery. Jesus treated people who had doubts with compassion and valued their questions, as described in countless ways throughout the Bible. He didn’t hesitate to show His own humanity by sharing His emotion of sadness as He wept when Lazarus died. Jesus asked God to take the circumstances of His crucifixion away because He feared the pain of what was to come in His suffering on the cross. Yet after He prayed, cried, and sought God, He surrendered His will to the will of God, which meant dying for the sins of mankind. Jesus cried out to God before He was crucified. He experienced peace and the grace necessary to carry out His assignment. That grace saved mankind by ensuring our everlasting connection with God. Jesus values and can handle our questions and doubts. He has compassion for us as we process them.

When we surrender to God’s grace, as Jesus did, deciding to turn our will over to Him and His care, we can accept all the grace and forgiveness He has to offer. Why do we resist submitting to the authority of a God who loves us? Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, fear and shame hinder our capacity to trust God, to believe that His ways are better for us. Thankfully, God is love, and in His love, God gave humans the power of choice. We have free will. We get to choose to believe in God or not. We get to choose to surrender to our will and desires (which much of the time doesn’t work out so well for us), or we can decide to choose to surrender to the safety found in God’s will and plan for us that is always good (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 12:2).

Are you ready to accept God’s grace and forgiveness once and for all?

Prayer Guide

• Thank God for sending His Son to die on a cross and take your sin and shame.

• Ask the Lord to help you turn your back on the shame you feel and focus on His grace.

• If you have not accepted Christ, tell Him your desire to do so and ask for help.

• Ask the Savior to place people in your path who need to hear about the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

• If you have not accepted Christ, tell Him your desire to do so and ask for help.

Prayer for You

Beloved Savior, thank You for dying on a cross so that I could know eternity. Your sacrifice and your gift of grace are amazing to me. I am so grateful that even at my worst You wanted to know me forever. You never gave up on me. The rest of my days are committed to telling others about You and about eternity. You paid the ultimate sacrifice for us. You love us that much. Each day I will look with eager anticipation for the opportunity to tell someone that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. You are worthy of our worship, honor, and praise. I love You, King Jesus! Amen.