Live Free with Josh Howerton - Shame's Greatest Enemy | Ep. 268 | Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

Guilt is a strange emotion to deal with. It can be a good thing when we realize we have sinned against a holy God and it draws us to Him. However, our enemy, Satan, can twist it and use it against us until it turns into shame. Guilt points out what we’ve done, while shame attacks who we are. But shame has an enemy: grace. Grace from our good God sets us free and reminds us who we really are. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, hey, hey, happy Valentine's Day, everybody. Hope that your heart is filled with love on this day. You know, I've only dated one girl in my entire life, started in the 10th grade, and it is still going strong.

If you have someone special in your life, hope you celebrate them the day. But whether or not you're married or dating, I hope that you know that God's love is unfailing. And you, yes, you are the object of his unfailing love. And his love is higher, wider, longer, and deeper than any of us can imagine. We've been walking through John chapter 8 unpacking a riveting story of God's unfailing love. A woman was set up by the religious leaders caught engaging in sexual sin,

thrown down in the dirt and from tons of people in Jesus. They were trying to trap Jesus in the saying or doing something they could use against him. They hated him. And he was a threat to their corrupt empire. By the way, an empire that was built in the name of God. And showing them and all the people what God is really like, Jesus stoops down.

He gets down on the dirt with this embarrassed, used, abused, shame-filled woman. It is such an amazing story of grace. If you've missed any of the previous episodes, go back and catch up, or you can read it for yourself in John Chapter 8. You know, it got me thinking how guilt is a strange emotion to deal with, isn't it? A bunch of little kids were asked to explain what a guilty conscience was like, and one little six-year-old girl said, A guilty conscience is like a pot inside of you that burns if you're not good.

A seven-year-old boy said, A guilty conscience is feeling bad when you kick girls or little dogs. What they're trying to say is, guilt is that thing inside of us that says, whoa, I think I crossed the line there. It's that thing that says, that wasn't right. That didn't even feel right.

I may have shared this with you before, my friend, Charlie Gerber, who's a brilliant counselor, showed me this one day this little acrostic on guilt. He says that from God's perspective, guilt is a good thing. Guilt stands for God's, unique, intentional, love, treatment. God's unique, intentional, loving treatment in its purest form. Guilt is like that check engine light on the dashboard of your car, let you know something's not quite right under the hood.

God put that emotion in all of us to let us know that we've got something in there that we need to deal with. So from God's perspective, it is a very good thing. But as you might imagine, the original identity thief takes what God meant for good and distorts it and takes it to the other extreme. Here's the acrostic for guilt from Satan's perspective. It stands for grief, united, and lifelong torment. Grief united and lifelong torment. See how that fits his agenda, to kill, steal, and destroy? You see he loves to see you and me stay down in the dirt.

He loves to see the past dominate us. He loves to see guilt stay unresolved, because if we'd never deal with the guilt, then it will morph into its sinister cousin called shame. And I'm telling you, gang, shame is a whole other level. Lou Smeese describes this way. It says the difference between guilt and shame is very clear in theory. We feel guilty for what we do.

We feel shame for what we are. A person feels guilt because he or she did something wrong. A person feels shame because he or she is something wrong. Guilt attacks what we did. Shame attacks who we are. You know the Bible calls Satan, who is the enemy of our soul, the thief, the father of lies also our accuser. And you know how he says to us.

You know, you know, come on, you know who you really are. You're such a loser. You're a drunk, you're an addict, you're a junkie, you're a pervert. You're such a failure. You're tainted. You're dirty. You're irreversibly stained. You're so stupid.

You're so fat. You're so ugly. You're so lazy. You're so unloved. You're so alone. Always have been. You always will be. Look at you down in the dirt.

You just need to stay there because let's face it, that's just who you are. So our true identity gets hacked, and we stop believing in our God-given worthiness, and we start hustling for it by constantly striving, performing, pleasing, proving, and perfecting, and then guess who becomes your biggest accuser? You do. Now it's not only the enemy whispering you are so stupid. Your self-talk becomes, I am so stupid, I'm so ugly, I'm so unwanted, and we start believing lies.

Like, I'll be worthy when I can lose 20 pounds. I'll be worthy if I can get pregnant. I'll be worthy if I can just stay sober. I'll be worthy if everyone thinks I'm a good parent. I'll be worthy if I can get a scholarship. I'll be worthy when my salary reaches a certain level. I'll be worthy if he calls back and asks me out. I'll be worthy when my parents finally approve.

I'll be worthy only when I can live perfect and look perfect and act perfect and be perfect. I'm telling you, shame is an extremely dangerous enemy. But you need to know that shone. Shame has a dangerous enemy called grace. Shame towers over me and tells me I'm defective. Grace stoops down and tells me I'm valuable. Shame's greatest weapon is the fear of judgment. Grace's even greater weapon is the relief of unconditional love.

Shame says that because I'm flawed, I'm unacceptable. Grace says that even though I am flawed, I'm absolutely priceless. Shame believes the opinion of the crowd is what matters. Grace believes the opinion of God is what matters. Shame makes us hide. Grace sets us free. Shame pearls rocks. Grace lifts our head. Shame is the language of the thief.

Grace is the language of Jesus. The one down in the dirt who says you are worthy now. Not if, not when, you are worthy of love and belonging right this minute as is. I want you to look at what the God of Unfailing Love has quote unquote written with this finger in the dirt. Isaiah 4325. I even I am he who blots out your transgressions. for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. Isaiah 44.22, I have swept away your sins like the morning mist.

I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. O return to me for I have paid the price to set you free. I love what it says in Micah 719. Once again, you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean. And you need to know God's got a great arm. Psalm 103, verse 12, as far as the east is for, the west so far as he removed our transgressions from us Hebrews 10 17 God says I'll forever wipe

the slate clean of their sins Romans 8 1 so now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus let me ask you where are your accusers now you need to know today that God is not afraid to show up right in the middle of your mess he's not he's bold enough to deal with your dysfunction he's fearless enough to walk with you through an addiction He's heroic enough to lift you up out of any abuse or bullying you may have known. Jesus is humble enough to stoop down into the dirt and meet you wherever you are just the way you are. There is hope for everyone.

So I've been praying this week on this Valentine's Day that you would find the lover of your soul kneeling in the dirt today, that you would come face to face with unconditional love and amazing grace. And you would let Jesus take your shame. You're deeply loved. See you back tomorrow. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship,

join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. For more information, visit lakepoint.com.