Shelter from Shame So where do we go after we’ve been set free from shame? How do we continue to hold our head high when shame whispers our name again? See, even when shame shatters off of us by the power of the Holy Spirit, we’ll be tempted to pick it up again. When we’ve walked in shame’s shadow for years it requires exertion to refrain from returning. Where do we find such strength? Where is our shelter from shame’s ugly onslaught? We read of the women who walked and worked with Jesus and we find a long list of ladies who had been broken free from shame. “After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good
news of the Kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him, and also some of the women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joannea, the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.” (Luke 8:1-3 NIV) This scripture includes a list of what I would categorize as cured women. Each of these ladies had an encounter with Jesus that rearranged their lives entirely. They had a personal BC and AD. They had been set free and re-established on a path of wholeness and dignity. So what can we learn from these cured women? These cured women stayed with Jesus. They had found that the long-term solution for their shame situation was the unbroken presence of the Savior. They had learned how His nearness chased away their ugliest beliefs about themselves. Considerable time in His company had reshaped their thinking. They found truth and purpose and value in Him. These cured women reinvested their lives in Kingdom things. I suspect these women had invested an incredible amount in shame. If thoughts were dollars and coins, the balance on their shame accounts pre-Jesus would have been sky high. Post-Jesus, they had discovered something far better to invest in. Cured women put their resources into the Kingdom. These women took all the energy and assets they previously spent on shame and now they spent themselves in ministry; completely and freely. They bankrupted themselves for His glory. These cured women were contagious. These women who had been miraculously freed from sin and shame were now drawing others to Him like moths to light. The shame-free identity they discovered in Christ Jesus was attractive. A woman who has experienced wholeness and dignity in Jesus can show the way to other women. We look to these cured women and we find the shelter for our life post-shame. We stay near to Jesus, we reinvest our lives in Kingdom things, and we live contagious, ready to share our Lord with anyone who will listen. “As scripture says, “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 10:11 NIV) Lord, when shame finally shatters, we are truly set free. We are cured. Let us live as cured women; staying close to You, reinvesting ourselves in Kingdom things and living contagiously. There is a great amount of gospel work to be done and we have been freed up for Your purpose. Employ us as You see fit, we will gladly serve because we are just so grateful to be whole again. Amen. Ladies, it has been such a privilege to sit with you these last few weeks. We have come a long way in a short time, haven’t we? It is my hope that you have been able to recognize the origins of shame in your narrative, identified the reality of shame, cooperated with the power of the Holy Spirit in shattering shame and now know where to shelter from shame’s reach in the future. I
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pray that in our time together the Lord has sealed some things in your heart and altered some things in your story. I pray that He has set you free from shame and set you solidly on a path with Him. Walk in wholeness and dignity because you are a daughter of the King.