Life of Shame

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Sometimes shame is associated with doing the right thing.

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In a world where good is declared evil, and evil is declared good, innocent and devoted people are persecuted and assigned guilt for doing the right thing, or because others refuse to admit their own guilt.

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Sources of Shame:

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Case 1

A person lives a sinful life and has the guilt and shame associated with wrongdoing.

He may or may not have a conscience, and may not care about it.

So he may, or may not, feel shame.

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Case 2

Those around them wrongly assign guilt to them, to oppress them, and to deny the truth.

Or maybe it is just a sadistic infliction of emotional pain by others.

Regardless of being in line with YHVH God’s will, the burn and the sting of shame comes upon them.

It is unwanted, and unfair, but no one believes they are innocent.

They carry the shame, in a life full of injustice.

They can collapse under this unfair burden and stigma.

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Case 3

One sees the sins and guilt of others, and experiences the guilt that others should be feeling, if the others had a conscience to begin with.

This is due to a deep empathy of the person, who feels the pain of God over the sins and offenses committed by other people.

It is as if they have taken on the guilt of those around them, and are grieving over, and repenting over, the unrepentant sins.

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Case #2 applies to the prophet Jeremiah, as the sinful nation rejected his word from God to repent, continued in sin, and punished Jeremiah as a false prophet.

Jeremiah 20

1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord.

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Jeremiah also experienced case # 3

This would have compounded his grief.

In his despair over the sins of Israel, he became depressed, thinking he was so connected to his people that he shared their curse and shame.

He also had been called as a child, and all he knew was the sin and shame of Israel his whole life.

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Jeremiah 20

10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed

15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

16 And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

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There are many who feel shame in their lives, and it is not fair to them. (Case #2)

They do the right thing and are lied about, and shamed as guilty by a horde of enemies.

There are many Christians who have been hurt and persecuted like this.

For those who have unjustly lived a life of shame, they should first recognize that it is NOT their fault, but the fault of others who harm them.

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There are others who grieve over the sins of the world, and they are very few in number. (Case #3)

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The wounds are incurable, it seems, and the pain can last a lifetime.

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So how do we respond to this pain?

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Well, we can look at how Jeremiah responded.

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He stayed true to his message, and repeated the warning

4 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

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He acknowledged that the Word of God superseded his own feelings

7 O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocks me.

8 For since I spoke, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

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The power of God will prevail, no matter what he suffered, so give praise to God.

11 But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

12 But, O Lord of hosts, that tries the righteous, and sees the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

13 Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

 

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For those who feel no shame

You are WRONG,

if you look around at evil, and feel nothing.

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If you are not ashamed of the sin around you,

if you are not ashamed when blood thirsty men behead people,

If you are not ashamed of child molestation and trafficking,

If you are not ashamed of false doctrines, like the prosperity gospel,

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If you are not ashamed of the evil leaders you put into political office,

If you are not ashamed of those who counterfeit God’s power, in order to enhance their own personal status,

If you are not ashamed of pastors and Christians who commit adultery,

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If you are not ashamed of abortions committed daily,

If you are not ashamed of the worship of silver, gold and money,

If you are not ashamed of the neglect of the homeless and poor.

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In each case, you ignore the victim in the situation.

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All this shame will come upon you, unless you act in a godly fashion, and repent before God for what you see around you.

And for your own sins.

And act to correct the wrongs.

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We should be ashamed of this godless world, and be on our knees before YHVH God, to humble ourselves, repent for ourselves and what we see others do, and ask YHVH God to intervene on the part of the victims of all this abuse.

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