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Sep 25
September 25, 2021
Pleasantview Baptist
Arlington, TX
With: Sharon Jaynes
Oct 22
October 22-24, 2021
Girlfriends in God Conference
North East, MD
With: Mary Southerland, Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith
Feb 19
February 19, 2022
Outrageous & Contagious 10th Ladies Conference
Tifton, GA
With: Mary Southerland, Sharon Jaynes, and Gwen Smith
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I remember as a little girl, hiding under the covers of my bed, trying to shut out my parents’ yelling and screaming in the next room. I heard bad words. I didn’t know what some of them meant, but I did know how they made me feel. Dirty. The next morning, I awoke to the aftermath of the night’s tirade—Mom’s black eye, Dad’s crying remorse, furniture tossed and broken—and those bad words bouncing around my little-girl head.![]()
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Nevertheless, I was expected to put on my school clothes, brush my hair, eat my cereal, brush my teeth, and sit in class with my little friends as if nothing had happened the night before. The shame of what I’d seen and heard clung to me like the stink of a Friday night fish fry. Maybe no one else could smell it, but I sure did. ![]()
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Never once did I wonder what went on in anyone else’s home. I was sure it couldn’t be as bad as mine. Shame wrapped its talons around my neck and squeezed. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I felt I was wrong. My family was all wrong. And I suffered in silence.![]()
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Whether it attacks a curly-headed first-grader sitting at her desk, or an eighty-year-old woman sitting in a church pew with her friends, shame is a universal destroyer of destinies, dignity, and callings. It whispers, You’re the only one. No one is as bad as you. If they only knew. Shame keeps its victims silent.![]()
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Where did shame come from? It came from the Garden in Genesis 3. The writer of Genesis wrote about Adam and Eve on the dawn of their creation, “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25). The biblical writer could have used a variety of words to describe what Adam and Eve did not feel. They felt no fear, no hunger, no anxiety, no thirst, no loneliness, no lack. But the writer chose the word shame. It’s a significant choice as it foreshadows what happened next.![]()
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After they disobeyed God in Genesis 3, they felt shame for the first time. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (3:6–7). The Hebrew word for shame is bosh, which means to be “utterly dejected and to be ashamed in front of one another.” That’s what they felt. Maybe you’ve felt it, too.![]()
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But the Bible tells us that because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and our decision to follow Him, we never need to live under the shadow of shame again. His blood is the cure for the infection of Eden.![]()
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The Bible gives us this promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Guess what “all” means in that verse? All means all and that’s all all means. ![]()
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When we confess our sin, the next step is to believe God tells the truth about removing the reason for the shame. God says, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgression, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). Do you believe God tells the truth—that you are completely forgiven and free of accusation? That’s the question, isn’t it?![]()
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Here’s another question: Can we be saved from sin but still enslaved to shame? Absolutely. Jesus removes the reason for shame; it’s up to us to walk away from the season of shame. ![]()
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Salvation does not instantly inoculate anyone from feelings of shame, whether it is from something done to you or something you’ve done. But feelings don’t always line up with facts. We must decide to walk away from that shame place, regardless of what our feelings are telling us at the time.![]()
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Today’s Truth says, “Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame” (Psalm 34:5 NIV). That word “radiant” in the original text means “radiant with joy, to sparkle, to be cheerful.” I want to be sparkly, don’t you! I am so glad that Jesus endured the shame so that we don’t have to live under its cloud any longer.![]()
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Shame off me! Shame off you! Amen! ![]()
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Dear Lord, thank You for enduring the shame to remove mine. Thank You that I never have to be ashamed of my past hurts or habits because You have forgiven me and washed away my sin. ![]()
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.![]()
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Despite my best intentions, I still eat vanilla ice cream right out of the carton. I sometimes wrestle anxiety like a wild alligator. I feel confused by social media and stressed out by the news. Curled up in bed, I told all this to Jesus one day. And I asked, “What do You want me to picture as success?” It seems the answer that came quietly into the dark was this: faithfulness.![]()
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This is not the answer our world would give. We’d be told fame or material possessions, staying young forever or getting to sit at the cool table are markers of success. But in the Gospels, the master doesn’t say, “Well done, my good and famous servant.” He says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21, emphasis mine).![]()
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This morning I read an endearingly human story about the disciples. Jesus had been crucified. Their lives were in turmoil. They were unsure of what the future held. Peter said, “I’m going fishing” (John 21:3). ![]()
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Haven’t we all had those days? We throw up our hands and say, “I’m going to get a latte,” “I’m going shopping,” or “I’m going to the gym.” We turn to what we know. The disciples fished all night and caught nothing. Then Jesus appeared, although they didn’t yet know it as Him, and He told them to let out their nets one more time. They caught so many fish, they could hardly handle them all.![]()
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This is faithfulness. It’s continuing to cast the net because Jesus says so. Even when we’ve been up all night. Even when we’re weary. Even when we’re confused. Even when we’re discouraged and want to quit. Our role is obedience; God’s role is results.![]()
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Eugene Peterson describes faithfulness as, “A long obedience in the same direction.” It’s not cool. It doesn’t make headlines. We’re not likely to get awards, applause, or even an abundance of “likes” for it. But faithfulness is quietly, often invisibly, life altering and world changing.![]()
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I want to be faithful to Jesus for a lifetime.![]()
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I want to be faithful to use my gifts for a lifetime.![]()
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I want to be faithful to my husband for a lifetime.![]()
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I want to be faithful to intentionally cultivate friendships with other women for a lifetime.![]()
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I used to think that what mattered most was growth. The difficulty with that is we can’t control growth. God alone is the One who makes things grow (see 1 Corinthians 3:6–7). We are instead invited to be faithful, to plant, and to water. Out of that naturally comes growth, but we don’t make it happen. That feels like a weight off our shoulders. One of the keys to peace is not taking on what God has never asked us to carry.![]()
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If you’re putting pressure on yourself today to do more, be more, achieve more, then pause and take a deep breath. Just be faithful. If you’re comparing yourself to others and feel you’re falling short, refocus on your own journey. Just be faithful. If you’re striving for perfection and trying to make everyone happy, let go of those unrealistic demands. Just be faithful.![]()
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We don’t need big resolutions. We don’t need to check every item off our bucket list. We don’t have to prove our worth. Instead, we can simply say, “Jesus, I will do what I can, where I am, in this moment to love You and others today. Then I will do it again tomorrow.”![]()
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That’s faithfulness. That’s powerful. That’s enough for a lifetime.![]()
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