Embracing Shame

A Cultural Flaw

            I had the privilege the other night of being able to spend time with my dear friend. We found ourselves around supper time eating sandwiches and having a small picnic at the park. Somehow, the conversation turned to things that we have done in the past that we were even ashamed to admit to each other. That is when she chimed in with a quick statement that I have been chewing on ever since she said it. Without even realizing it, she challenged me by simply saying, “I think as a culture we have a tendency to embrace shame… and that is not good.”

            The conversation turned to a huge way that we, especially as women, feel shame. Now, considering the title of my blog deals with beauty, I think that I should address the topic about which we started to speak. Ever heard a woman say, “I feel beautiful,” and think, “wow, she is so vain?” I know I have thought that very thing myself. We both started to think about it and realized, as a culture of women it is almost taboo to actually be comfortable in our own skin. We are expected to have insecurities and to be ashamed of parts of our bodies. No wonder there is such an epidemic when it comes to eating disorders and self-image issues in general! We stopped talking about it and moved on, but I continued to think about it even throughout today. I have come to a conclusion, feeling shame is sinful.

The sad part of this conclusion is that we, as believers, buy into this “cultural flaw” of sorts. We live in shame and feel as if, without shame, we somehow have too much pride or something dumb like that. I thought about examples of shame in the Bible and the biggest example I could think of was Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 3:8-10 it says, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of you in garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’” The first example of human shame, but here’s the good part. As Christians, we have the opportunity to be free of the bondage of shame. Because Christ died on the cross, we are able to live shame and guilt-free. That is why I believe shame is a sin, it almost discredits what happened on the cross, to some extent. So, for those of you (including me) that live in the bondage of guilt and shame, I leave you with one final verse.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9