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The Shame Game

Shame and condemnation resulting from our struggles and failures are what keep many from finding a confident place of relationship with the God who is pure and holy. The good news is that the cross has resolved our sin as well as our shame, so that we can freely be in his presence even in the midst of our struggles and failures. Unfortunately religion does not free people from shame, but only increases it as it seeks to manipulate people’s performance. Following up on the recent podcast about sin, Wayne and Brad discuss the power of shame and how we can live free of it in our life with him.

By: Wayne | 2007/02/16 | Show content | Trackback | Comments [RSS 2.0]

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Marianne Miller

Comment by Marianne Miller | 2007/02/17 at 06:45:50

Brad and Wayne,
Thank you so much for your podcast on shame. I am beginning to see how much of my life I was driven by shame. I was raised in a shame-based religion, then at twenty found Christ. For a few glorious months I found freedom and love as I read the bible from cover to cover and sensed God’s great mercy and love for me.
Then I got involved in a Campus Fellowship and the shame game started all over again. Finally, at age 48, I extricated myself from that fellowship and have returned to the wonder of just knowing God and allowing myself to feel accepted by Him just as I am.
Gradually, life and energy are emerging from my simplified relationship with the Father. While I still have anxiety pangs from time to time that I am not doing the “stuff’ (door to door evangelism, passing out tracts, teaching Sunday School, filling in various ministry slots at church, etc…), I believe that I am successfully shedding the performance mentality and moving into relationship mode.
You hit the nail on the head when you said that we all know shame well enough, what we don’t know so well is grace and forgiveness. It is so nice to be able to relax and just be myself and rely on the Spirit to lovingly guide me, instead of that wagging finger from the pulpit.
Sarah

Comment by Sarah | 2007/04/04 at 16:57:07

I’ve listened to this podcast three times now. It was something I desperately needed to hear. I have been dealing with an ongoing situation that I had no control over almost two years ago that I thought I had put to rest. Many many things have changed since then, and God is in the midst of blessing me tremendously, however, I have felt a lot of guilt and condemnation over this situation that occurred two years ago. In fact, I can’t even take 100% blame for it b/c I stood up for my ethics and took a huge hit, but the enemy who is the accuser of the saints has been rubbing it in my face, reminding me for the past few days about the events of the past. I’ve come under condemnation and guilt as a result and really fighting to overcome it through the proclamation of the cross, knowing that Jesus died on calvary for my sins and took care of it. Thank you!

The Shame Game

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