Shame is another term for feeling guilty. It is not guilt but the feeling of being guilty. This is a tool used by Satan to discredit Jesus. It is a tool to discredit Jesus as Messiah, the one who saves us from sin. It is a tool used to discredit Jesus as the perfect Lamb of God who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29). It is a demon.
Shame is the demon that makes us feel we are the “center of attention” with all those around pointing the finger and shouting “guilty, guilty, guilty”. We know we are guilty, but we don’t need others to “rub it in our faces”.
In essence, shame is a form of pride but from a different perspective. It’s not the perception I am better than everyone else, the most common form of pride; It’s the perception “Why don’t people respect me the way I should be respected”. Shame makes us feel disrespected, unimportant and not valued.
What seems to be the best defense is to shout back, “what about you? You too are guilty”. That reaction gives us a sense of reprieve and solace. All that reaction does is make us like our accusers. They are accusing us while we are accusing them. We’re both doing the same. This makes us equal to them – guilty!
Feeling guilty is a handicap. It can paralyze us or make us truly ineffective and unproductive in our life. We become focused on our guilt and our shame and takes away the focus on God. In essence we are “missing the mark”, we are “sinning”. The focus is oneself instead of God. The focus is “what others think about ME” versus “What does God think about ME?”. God is not the focus, Others, our peers, is the focus. It is a great tool by Satan and a very effective demon to haunt us.
Shame is an energy drainer. A lot of time and energy is spent feeling sorry for oneself, how to defend oneself, and how to avenge being accused by those who themselves are guilty.
There is an opposite to shame – mercy. The Most High God, loves those He created and He cares. Sin is turning away from God while repentance is turning to God. When we turn to God, we have a better view of Him. When we look to Him we can see His outstretched hand as He calls us to Him. He wants to be our Father. He doesn’t need us, He WANTS US. Because He wants us, He forgives us by His mercy. When we accept His mercy, there is no room for shame (Psalm 103: 12).