TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Genesis 2:23–3:13
We all know what shame feels like. To understand your own personal shame, you may need to go back to the beginning of your childhood. To understand shame in Scripture, you need to go back to the beginning, too. We see at the end of Genesis 2 that Adam and Eve are naked, and they aren’t ashamed about it. Yet, as time passes, Satan convinces the first humans that the way God made them, the parameters He put in place, and the will He has for their lives isn’t good enough. And this is the voice we still hear in our heads even through adulthood: “You aren’t enough.”
In Genesis chapter three, we see that God’s image bearers (Genesis 1:26) believe Satan’s lie of scarcity and self-reliance. Adam and Eve toss around blame to each other and even to God. And by the end of the chapter, their nakedness becomes their shame. Adam and Eve’s true selves feel lacking because of a disconnection from God. They feel ashamed so they cover up.
Shame can be helpful to us because when we feel shame, it shows us boundaries in relationships. We need to feel shame when we hurt God or those we love. Yet, shame often doesn’t stop there. Healthy guilt often becomes unhealthy shame when we carry it around with us to the point it becomes our identity.¹ We believe we are flawed at our core instead of feeling guilty for a particular action. Unhealthy shame says, “I am worthless” instead of “I messed up that assignment.” Unhealthy shame says, “You never do anything right” instead of “You don’t need to yell at her next time.”
We still believe the lie Satan planted in Adam and Eve’s mind in the garden: “The way God made me isn’t good enough.” So we try to be smarter, richer, better, skinnier, or funnier because deep down we feel a lack. In reality, there was nothing wrong with Adam and Eve as they were; they just believed a life-altering lie. In reality, God made you in His image, and because of the blood of Jesus, He sees you as full of His glory (John 17:22).
Today, I will…read Ephesians 1:1-14 and dwell on the fact that these bold promises made are to me because I am a child of God.