Monday, Feb. 4

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Monday

Genesis 2:25 - The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. 

Genesis 3:6-11  - When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”  And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”    

Our modern psychotherapeutic culture is desperately trying to rid itself of the notions of guilt and shame. Modern celebrities go on TV and brag openly about things that, just a few years ago, would have been kept quiet. Best-selling books, and recovery gurus, promise to rid us of our feelings of guilt by using affirmations, visualizations, “inner voice” and “feeling work” plus guided meditations and other useful healing techniques. Even many professing Christian psychologists, tell us that our problem is low self-esteem; we need to learn to accept ourselves.

Even many Christians have wrong ideas about how God deals with sin and guilt. They think that God came looking for Adam and Eve in the garden, chewed them out, cursed everything in sight, kicked them out of the garden, and locked the door behind them. They view God as one who lowers the boom on guilty sinners.  But that’s really not the picture of God in Genesis chapter 3.  Because we all sin, we all need to deal with the problem of our guilt. It is not surprising that the enemy of our souls offers many counterfeit solutions. So we must be careful to answer from the Bible alone the question, “How does God deal with my guilt?” 

In order to understand the answer to this question, you have to understand the difference between shame and guilt.  Both are present in the story of Genesis 3 and both are present in the world today.  Many people use the words guilt and shame interchangeably. However, there are very important differences between the two, and to confuse them would be to lessen the healing power of guilt and strengthen the destructive power of shame.  

When Adam & Eve sinned by disobeying God, in that moment, their innocence was lost and they became guilty.  Their status (or standing) before God was objectively changed; they were innocent, and now they are guilty.  Just as in a courtroom, a Judge can pronounce you innocent or guilty, so too, when we sin, we become guilty before God.  

Shame is something different.  Shame has to with how we feel about ourselves.  Shame, is that deep sense of unease and displeasure with ourselves at the center of who we are.  We can, and often do, feel shame without being conscious of our guilt.  A judge may pronounce you guilty, but he does not pronounce you ashamed.   Guilt says I've done something wrong; shame says there is something wrong with me. Guilt says I've made a mistake; shame says I am a mistake. Guilt says what I did was not good; shame says I am no good.

Notice that Genesis 2 ends with the statement that they felt no shame.  It is hard to imagine isn’t it?  There was a time when there was no shame, and no fear, nothing to hide and no reason to cover up.  But, when Adam & Eve sinned, they became guilty, and their awareness of their guilt produced the feelings of shame in their hearts.  Their feelings of shame caused them to cover up from each other and hide from God.  It is really a very tragic picture, for the first time, shame had entered into the story of the human race, and for the first time we hid from each other and from the God who made us.  We have been feeling ashamed and hiding ever since.  

But the Bible also tells us that our guilt does not have to lead us into shame and hiding.  There is a different path that we can take, one that will lead us out of hiding and into the light.  Let’s let Scripture speak for itself on this matter.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right.
He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.  - Micah 7:8-9

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.  - 2 Corinthians 7:10

 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   - 1 John 1:6-9

Jeff Frazier