God has a strategy for shattering the shackles of shame in your life and it's not psychology, self-improvement, or group therapy. It is divine revelation based on His Word. You will break your shackles if you follow His word regardless of the reason for your shame, the type of shame you bear, or the length of time which you have been held captive by its force.
First, you must acknowledge your shame.
You do not effectively deal with shame by denying or ignoring it. You must boldly admit your shame. You cannot blame your inherited sin nature for your shame. You cannot blame another person or your rotten circumstances. If you do this, shame will continue to characterize your life, responses, and relationships. You must fearlessly confront shame before you can act against the negative force it exerts over your life. Shame is a signal that something is wrong.
King David, whose shame resulted from his sin of adultery and murder, suffered personal damage while he remained in an unrepentant state. He said:
Psalm 32:3, 4 "While I kept silent, my bones grew old, Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned into the drought of summer."
You may think you get away with sin, but you really don't, and as long as you do not acknowledge and deal with your sin you will never be free from its associated shame. God used the Prophet Nathan to confront David with his unconfessed sin he told a moving story of a poor man's lamb that was slain by a rich man when a traveler came to visit. The parable stirred David's anger in 2 Samuel 12:7 and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!" A poignant hush fell over the throne room as Nathan said to David, "You are the man!"
When David heard these words he did not try to justify or deny his transgressions, but immediately acted against them. "I have sinned against the Lord," he said. Psalm 51:1-4 reflects his response as he prayed:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight...”
When David repented, Nathan immediately responded, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."
Jesus dealt with shame at the cross, for the Bible says in Hebrews 12:2 that He endured the cross and the hostility of sinners, "despising the shame." Isaiah declared of Jesus in Isaiah 50:6:
"I gave My back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame."
The cross is more powerful than your shame. Because Jesus took your shame to the cross, you no longer must live imprisoned by inherited, individual, incessant, imposed, or institutional shame. Remember the Old Testament scapegoat which symbolically carried the sins of Israel into the wilderness? Jesus is the "scapegoat" for your sin and shame. Spiritually, you can watch your scapegoat being led into the wilderness and there goes your sin and your shame! You no longer have to bear it, because when you accept Jesus as your Savior, He bore it!
Romans 10:1 NKJV "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
God wants the shackles of shame broken in your life so you will never again be condemned in this world or the world to come, but in order for this to happen you must honestly acknowledge your shame. If the end result of what you are doing is shameful, then it is from Satan and he is using it to destroy you. Acknowledge your sin and its associated shame before God and break the shackles!
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