Claim Victory over Shame

Jun. 4, 2018 | By Creflo Dollar

Have you ever felt the tug on your heart to do something, but held back out of shame? When we sense God calling us, there is an ever-present enemy trying to stop us from moving forward and accomplishing His mission in our lives. Satan uses shame to tie us to our past and constantly throw our previous failures and mistakes in our faces; he works hard to make us feel ashamed. Jesus died to keep this evil emotion from sabotaging our lives, and now shame no longer has to be an issue.

We can claim victory over shame. The key to this triumph lies in the finished works of Jesus. Before we were born, He knew shame would be a problem for us unless He took care of it once for all time. He hated it and the damage it can inflict on us so much, that He willingly went to the cross to defeat it forever. “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Shame is part of the curse that threatened everyone under the old covenant, when the Law of Moses was still in effect. When we believe that Jesus took care of it on the cross by becoming our shame substitute, it loses its power over us. Acknowledging that He did this for us and having faith in the power of His actions releases us from this type of emotional bondage. “I gave My back to the smiters and My cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God helps Me; therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:6, 7, AMPC). We will never be disgraced when we trust in Him.

Shame is one step beyond guilt. Guilt says we made a mistake, but shame says we are a mistake. This emotion makes us feel unworthy, inferior, and unlovable, and tells us that God will never accept us because of our past. The truth is that faith in Jesus makes us righteous and acceptable in God’s eyes. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus Christ is our rock, in more ways than one. Leaning on Him gives us the strength and stability we need to move forward when life gets difficult. He never shifts or gives way when we need that stability, because He’s trustworthy and dependable. Not only does believing on Him deliver us from ever being ashamed, but those who don’t believe that He took care of shame will constantly fall prey to it. “As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 9:33).

There’s a war going on for our hearts and minds, and the outcome depends on our faith in the promises of God. For born-again Christians who are new creations in Christ, victory over shame is one of those promises. Therefore, when we hear God’s call, we can trample shame underfoot and answer Him confidently.

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