Anthony Powell's 10/7 Teaching

"Shame on me, No..Shame get off me."

Psalm 130

God keeps no record of sin. They don't hold any value to him so they shouldn't hold any value to us. The Bible says he cast them as far as the East is to the West. We are the ones who relive them and allow them to have power over us, when God moved on the moment you confessed it and layed it down. If he's not punishing us then why do we want to take his job. If he's a God of justice and we've been pardoned thanks to the blood of Jesus, then why aren't we satifsified with the sentence that was passed. We are free in Christ. We're like that annoying friend who keeps remindind you of an embarassing moment they you've long forgotten. Don't do that to yourself.
Shame doe have a place. It is our capacity for shame that enables us to live comfortably within the boundaries and limit set for us by our capabilities, our relationship with others and our own sense of dignity and self worth. It reminds us who God is. We are not without limits.
Guilt and Shame are not the same. Guilt can pass once reconcilitation has been achieved. Shame has to do with a loss to one's identity and being. Long after the guilt has been removed objectively, one can still be caught in the dehumanizing grip of shame. It's the loss of self. Somehow we hold onto the feeling that we are unworthy of love, honor or respect.

How do you move past shame?

-Call it out. Being shamed is a violation of self which occurs with human interaction. Where ever there is blame there is shame. One continually feeds the other. Stop blaming yourself. You are forgiven. Stop the self abuse.
-Shame grows in secret. Admit our mistakes and ask for help. Bring it into the light. Fear of exposure only drives us deeper into hiding in a desperate attempt to preserve some semblance of decency. When we've been shamed we put on fig leaves to maintain a sense of acceptability. God accepts us as we are...period.
-Give it to God. Lay it all at the foot of the cross. Walk away, really walk away.