Devotion 5: Despising the Shame
If you could have a button to fast-forward your life or rewind your life, which would you choose?
Most people to whom I ask this question say they would rather have a button that would rewind their life. Part of the reason is they want to relive precious moments from their lives, but more often, they wish they could go back and change things or do things differently. As the Recovery Pastor, I often hear people say things like, “If only I could go back,” or “I wish I could have done things differently.” Regret stemming from shame plagues many of us, and a desire to go back and change things is heavy on many people’s hearts.
What is one regret that plagues your mind? If you had the chance, would you go back and change things? What would you change and why?
Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” The writer of this book says that a key to having spiritual endurance is to lay aside things that weigh us down. One of those weights is shame, which we are called to despise. It is the thing that plagues so many of us because of the myriad of mistakes and bad choices we make in the race of following Christ.
Do you find yourself struggling with shame? What are some things that you are ashamed of? In order to despise this shame, we first have to understand why it is so common to begin with.
Read Genesis 3:6-10. Though the word “shame” is not used in this passage, it is clearly what Adam and Eve are feeling. They are ashamed of their sin, their nakedness, and their failure to obey God. So they cover up, hide, and try to pretend that nothing happened. Before their sin, Adam and Eve relished their time with God in the Garden, but now are hiding from Him and fearing His presence. This is all because of their shame. Worldly shame tells us to hide, like Adam and Eve in the garden, but godly sorrow calls us out of hiding and back into God’s presence (2 Corinthians 7:10). To despise shame, then, is to reject its lie that we are better off covering up, and instead to run toward God in honesty, trusting that He meets us not with condemnation, but with mercy and restoration.
No wonder we are warned to lay aside what hinders us. Clearly, shame does exactly what the writer of Hebrews says it does: it weighs us down and holds us back from running our spiritual race. So, how exactly do we despise our shame? “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14
How does Paul encourage the Philippians to handle the past? What does he encourage them to do instead?
When we remember the Gospel, we are reminded that our sin has been forgiven through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. If Christ has forgiven us, we can also forgive ourselves. We cannot continue to hold onto shame and allow that to hinder our endurance when following Christ. We have to forget what lies behind and press on towards the race of Christ.
What are some things you need to lay down because they have been forgiven? Spend some time in prayer and ask God to help you leave your shame behind you.