Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Shame

Weekend Music links on iTunes: Today is the Day - Lincoln Brewster, Holding Nothing Back - Jesus Culture, The Time Has Come - Hillsong, From the Inside Out - Hillsong

Read:  John 8:31-32, Proverbs 27:17, Matthew 13:31-32

Think: This week, we’ve looked at how shame and guilt can sabotage the Christian walk. But the following are some common characteristics that growing people do to step out of shame and into growth. 

They see opportunity in every problem. We can easily focus our attention on the problems and difficulties in life, thereby giving up the power to do anything about them. But if we see each problem in a more positive light- as an opportunity for growth, resolution, learning or changing, they we can have the power to move forward.

They accept themselves. Brennan Manning writes, “The more fully we accept ourselves, the more successfully we begin to grow.” Once we are humbly aware and accepting of our human limitations, we can be more dependent on God. We offer forgiveness to ourselves, and to others by the power of Christ’s forgiveness in us.

They ask for the truth, even if the truth is hard to hear. Nobody likes to hear something negative about themselves. But there is nothing worse than trying to improve something, without knowing for sure what’s broken. Jesus says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  (John 8:31-32) Asking for feedback is a sign of maturity.

They get around other growing people. As we make ourselves available to other people, and they invest their lives in us, we grow together. We begin to trust, loosen up and start to let down our guard. That shame that kept us isolated is healed. When we do this in the context of relationships with other growers, we are fulfilling the proverb, " As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." (Proverbs 27:17)

They take risks. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,^ which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches,” (Matthew 13:31-32). When people take a risk, they activate their faith. Faith is the stuff that growth is made of, one step at a time. 

Growing is the natural product of being connected to Jesus. You don’t see an apple striving to grow right? It just stays connected to the tree and it grows naturally. The more dependent you become on Christ, the more you grow out of shame and into the righteousness of Christ. 

Do: Determine that you will be inclined toward growth, staying connected to God by trusting Him. 

Pray: Help me Jesus, to step out of the shame of my past and into the life that you sacrificed everything for me to have.

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.

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