Shame

Chris Parker Continuing on the message Roy and Julie shared last week, Chris honed in on the issue of shame. He defined shame as the belief that who you are is broken and unworthy of love. He outlines two ways to view oneself. The first being "I am a sinner – and I am also loved by God and created to be like Him". The other is "I am loved by God and created to be like Him – and I am a sinner". They might sound like the same thing, but they are different in that they highlight different things as being more important. Chris shared the story of Adam and Eve after they ate the fruit off the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They realized they were naked and hid from God because they felt like they were unworthy of his love. In other words they felt shame. On the other hand God went to the garden because He wanted to spend time with them. He didn't care that they were naked; he made them to be beautiful and be with Him. This poses the question to us. Who do we see ourselves as? Do we see ourselves like God sees us, as a beautiful creation for him that has fallen to sin? Or do we see ourselves as unworthy of the love God offers freely.