Summary: <br> Google shame and today you get a whole bunch of Brene’ Brown quotes from her famous TEDTalk. Shame is a popular topic today and one that has been on my mind a lot. Shame. The very word brings an emotion that makes me feel like a little girl hanging my head low, hiding from what I’ve done. Brene’ Brown has a whole lot to say about shame as the most powerful, master emotion. Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.<br> Shame doesn’t empower us to change, shame digs the hole that buries us deeper. Shame is NOT from God. It was never his desire for you to walk in shame over the path you have taken, the mistakes you have made, or what has been said about you.<br> I’ve been singing a lot about shame lately, as my new favorite song seems to be on repeat. Have you heard Bethel Music’s “Ain’t No Grave”. The opening lyrics say:<br> Oh, shame is a prison as cruel as a grave<br> Shame is a robber and he’s come to take my name<br> Shame is a cruel tool of the enemy that strips you of your power to change your behavior or direction. It digs the hole deeper and throws away the key to the locked chains holding you back. And it’s this powerful, master emotion that comes knocking on all of our doors when we stumble as humans.<br> Here’s what I want you to know … God knew every detail of your stumble and your mistake before you ever made it, and he still chose you. He still sees you as worthy. He still loves you with a relentless love that is simply unstoppable. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of my sister, it’s already been covered. Covered in the blood of Jesus, redeemed in full.<br> Yet, your past still comes knocking sometimes doesn’t it? Flashbacks of that moment you chose wrong, that weakness you surrendered to, that path you wasted your time on that was heading in the exact wrong direction. And when it does, the emotion is shame. After the nasty visit of shame, you’re left feeling unworthy and less than. Your shame is a crack for the enemy to weasel his evil way in and pick at your soul with torment. Let’s seal that dang crack!<br> Shame is cruel. It doesn’t play fair. It’s one sided and seeks only to kill your hope, steal your joy and destroy your future.<br> Yet we dance with it sometimes don’t we? We willfully replay the story. We retrace the steps. We relive it all and shrink back in our shame, feeling flawed and broken. Hey listen to me, YOU ARE THE PRIZED CREATION OF THE ALMIGHTY and prized creations don’t dance with shame. Shake that crap off and step into the life available to you.<br> In Zephaniah 3:19 (okay stop right there … yes I said Zehpaniah, it’s actually in your bible. I know, shocking right? I had to take a double take this morning during my study time and not rely on my online bible, but whip out my big book to turn to the pages myself. Sure enough, there in the Old Testament, 3 pages long is the book of Zephaniah. It’s filled with a message God spoke to this man we’ll call Z. A message that was a total call out to the people who had become prideful and were oppressing those who felt ‘less than’. The oppressed had been shamed by the prideful. And the Lord says “I will change their shame into praise.”<br> I will change their shame into praise. Oh sister, this is what God wants to do for you today. He wants to take the very thing that has caused you shame and turn it into praise. He wants to take your mess and turn it into your message. God almighty will use the thing that you have hidden in shame to set you free and make your impact. Nothing is wasted in the hands of God, not even your ‘thing’ that has brought you shame.<br> You know, it’s the ones who have been through what you have been through that you will actually listen to.
