The Shame Epidemic ..Pt 2
Let me tell you a story you may already know from the bible.
A woman was caught by a group of people who were about to stone her to death.
See this wonderful woman, let’s call her Tara was caught in the act of adultery and in those times, according to their law, SHE, not the man she was having the affair with…lol, SHE deserved to die.
Tara, panting and fearing for her dear life, ran. As she ran, she bumped into a man named Jesus. I think some of us know this guy.
Jesus held on to Tara who at this point was struggling with exhaustion and feeling faint.
When the township approached, they said to Jesus,
This woman is adulterous and she deserves to die, so mister, step aside so we can do some damage.
Jesus said nothing and began writing in the sand.
Everyone looked at Jesus, bemused and wondering why he wasn’t saying anything. Even Tara thought to herself, "Dude you’ve got to do something, I’m about to die here, you are the Teacher and my only hope. For surely, this crowd will listen to you".
Jesus looked at the crowd and said, "Whoever is without sin should cast the first stone".
BOOM
Gradually, the whole crowd disappeared.
With loving arms, Jesus pulled Tara up and said to her, "Where are your accusers? Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more". John 8:11
This story in the bible summarises what it looks like when we bring our shame into the light of God’s love.
When shame is exposed to light, it loses its power over us.
When we are bold enough to face ourselves, our struggles, our insecurities and the parts of ourselves we are not so happy with. We create an environment where with God’s love, we can heal and wholly accept ourselves with total unconditional love.
Sometimes, we use shame as a tool to punish ourselves and others in order to bring change in certain areas of our lives and of others. We fail to realise that shame, or fear cannot transform us.
When love encourages us to shine our light, shame causes us to hide.
When love offers a place of safety, shame causes us to avoid healthy relationships.
Love brings transformation and the safety we need to be ourselves.
Perfect love casts out fear. Fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4:18