Weights, Worries & WearinessSample

SHAME WEIGHTS

One day, I noticed that my phone’s battery life suddenly hit a dip and was draining faster than it usually does. So, I closed all of my open apps, but still, the battery continued to drain quickly. It was only a few days later that I discovered why. I went to set my alarm in the evening, and upon opening the app, the stopwatch tool appeared first. As it turned out, one of my kids had been using the stopwatch to time himself and had left it on. The time on the stopwatch had climbed to 89 hours and counting. No wonder my phone’s battery was draining so rapidly!

Shame weights are similar. These are the behind-the-scene beliefs that corrode your ‘value batteries’, resulting in you operating at a limited capacity. It’s important here to note the difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is the emotion that you feel when you make a mistake. Shame, on the other hand, is the emotion that you feel when you believe that you are the mistake. Shame is an identity-crippling emotion. It’s a weight that’s heaped on by the accuser. The devil’s key strategy is to get you to believe that your value is based on what you do or what others do to you. If you fail, it’s because you are a failure. If you’re rejected, it’s because you are unlovable. You see, shame-weights are underpinned by lies about your value and your identity. However, when you choose to align your thoughts with God’s truth, when you choose to seek out the voice of Jesus and who he says you are, you’ll learn to take off the shame weights.

Shame-weights are designed by the enemy to oppress you and to keep you from living according to your intentional design. Hebrews 12:2 reminds us of the Good News that, on the cross, Jesus put shame to death. Our worth (our value) is so great that Jesus endured the shame of being naked and exposed so that we don’t have to carry shame anymore. Let what Jesus did for you on the cross be a revelation of your value, and may it propel you to live a life that’s free of all shame-weights.

Consider the shame-weights that you carry. Are they holding you back, causing you to hide or producing fear in you regarding your value? Use the reflective questions below to help you to identify the shame-weights that you’re carrying:

• What are the thoughts that prevent you from attempting something new?
• What are the thoughts that cause you to doubt another person’s offer of friendship?
• What are the thoughts that cause you to avoid attending social events?
• What are the thoughts that cause you to reject support from others?
• What are the thoughts that keep you living behind closed doors?

PRAY

Lord, I pray that you reveal to me today the truth about my value and how you see me. Help me to understand my worth in your eyes, Lord. Today, I choose not to partner with this fear or lie (name the fear or lie) and, instead, I send it to the feet of Jesus. I ask you, Holy Spirit, to release the truth (name the gift of truth God has for you) over me. Thank you that I have been fearfully and wonderfully created in you. Amen.