No Shame – Big Gain
The Power of Shame – Part 1

Scripture Reading: Genesis 2:21-25

Key Verse: Genesis 2:25

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Shame is a negative emotion that leaves us with the feeling that we are not a good person. Most studies will show that shame is a major factor in suicidal thoughts, behaviors, and self-harm. No one wants to live a life full of shame. We, as humans, will ultimately deal with shame in a couple of ways. The first way some deal with shame is to repent of the action that caused the shame; they determine not to repeat the behavior that caused this shame.

Secondly, many people find as many excuses as they can come up with to justify their behavior, in order to eliminate as much shame as they can. Many in our society have become experts in turning something shameful into something reasonable. They do this by changing the way they describe the behavior. For example, the pro-choice movement knew they could not allow their cause to be described as killing babies, or even abortion; thus pro-choice became the common description. This action took away some of the shame of their behavior. There are many other examples of how our society has turned shameful behavior into acceptable behavior, all in an effort to relieve their feelings of shame.

Shame is indeed a miserable emotion to live with. God had made the world and its inhabitants to live without shame, as we see in our printed key verse today. (Continued)

God help me to live my life without shame as I fulfill your design in my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.