Freedom From Shame 04 | You Don’t Have To Hide From People
Shame is an emotion and experience that every person in human history has felt—with the exception of Jesus. It is a human experience that can wreak havoc on our soul and mental health. Shame can haunt us, constantly pursuing us with lies about ourselves and our worth. It can also paralyze us, leaving us feeling stuck in our flaws and failures.
Shame is experienced for the first time in human history in Genesis 3:
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (Genesis 3:7, NIV)
Adam and Eve, after the fall, felt the devastating effects of living contrary to God's design. They had chosen not to trust God's guidance and design. As a result, they experienced spiritual, relational, psychological, and emotional consequences. They attempted to hide from God, and they attempted to hide from each other.
This is a picture of shame. Shame is an exposure of our nakedness—we have been revealed as imperfect and flawed.
How do we find freedom from shame?
I would like to share with you a few lessons from Adam and Eve’s response to shame that can lead us to a place of freedom—this is the fourth of five insights on shame that can lead you to freedom from shame.
You Don’t Have To Hide From People
When Adam and Eve first experienced shame, they made a common human response to shame, described in Genesis 3:
“They… made coverings for themselves.” (Genesis 3:7, NIV)
Adam and Eve hid from one another.
Shame not only causes us to hide from God, but it also causes us to hide from one another. We put up relational walls. We cover ourselves from the very people who mean the most to us and whom we need. We don’t allow people to truly see us—with all the parts of our honest story.
We don’t put up these relational walls because we devalue the people around us.
We put up these relational walls because we believe that if we are fully seen, people will not love or accept us. Thus, we protect ourselves from being fully seen.
This response to protect ourselves from being fully known and seen is based on a lie we have come to believe. The truth is that every person in every era of human history carries shame. And every person in every era of human history has the same desire as you—to be fully known and fully loved.
We are far more similar than we sometimes believe.
We need each other.
It is in healthy relationships that we can be fully known and fully loved.
It is in these relationships that we find the space to heal, learn, grow, and flourish as relational beings.
Hiding from the people who will see you and love you will never lead to flourishing. God created us to flourish in relationships.
You can stop hiding. I know that taking down these relational walls may feel daunting and anxiety-inducing at first, but as you take steps forward to be known, you will find that you are loved and will flourish.
We are all imperfect. And in our imperfections, we need each other to feel normal and grow.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35, NIV)
There are better days ahead.
Much Love + Peace,
Wesley, Founder