Speaker 1: 0:02

Hi and welcome to our podcast, revelation Within On the Go. I'm Heidi Biles-Mapperson, one of your hosts and the owner and lead coach of the RevelationWithinorg ministry.

Speaker 2: 0:14

Right on, and I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within, and we are so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within on the go. Yay, we have so much fun with that every single week. I don't get it. It's like small pleasures or something. I look forward to it. It's like this great release. I don't know. I love it. Yeah, it's good stuff.

Speaker 1: 0:52

Yeah Well, we're so glad you're here Today. We're going to dive into something that's powerful but tender. Really, our first session with our brand new class. Moving from shame to Shalom uh, seeing yourself with God's eyes. Uh, met this week, and so it's been on my mind as I've been doing the homework for the class, cause I do like to go through it as though I'm a participant. Um, even though I wrote it, yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:20

Um and, and so shame has really kind of been on my mind. I've been noticing it cropping up, popping up, even creeping up. So today we're going to talk about moving from shame to a sense of freedom in Christ not just a sense, but really living it, and I'm still in process here. For sure we all are, I am for sure. I mean, I think there are times in my life when I live in greater freedom from shame than others. But I've also noticed that it seems to be connected closely with things that I'm confident about or not confident about feeling good about or not feeling good about.

Speaker 1: 2:05

And really Jesus has promised us freedom from shame, that is, without regard for circumstances and situations, he wants us to live in the freedom from shame that he purchased. So we're going to dive into Hebrews 12 too a little bit. It says there and Christina will read the whole passage here in a minute that Jesus actually endured the cross, scorning the shame, and we want to kind of figure out. What does that even mean? How does it apply to us if it does, and, most importantly, how do we live this out practically so that shame doesn't get to define us at all? I'm excited about going here today.

Speaker 2: 2:48

Yeah, me too. Me too, it does go deeper. Many of us don't like to talk about this, right, right. But shame is not from God. I have to say that to myself often because I used to believe that maybe it really was. You know that I need to sit in shame for a while so that I can change, and that is not at all God's design.

Speaker 2: 3:12

Not at all, so it helps me to say wait a minute, stop everything. Shame is the enemy's tool. It is not from God, and so we do. We want to get to a place, as much as possible, where we are living in freedom from shame. And I know, for me, sometimes it crops up when a situation changes and I feel inadequate. I feel like, oh my gosh, I can't do this, or you know, there's all different, different times that it crops up even when we think we've dealt with it. So I'm really glad that we're talking about this today. It's going to be great. God's going to show us his truth and his thoughts and we are going to get started with a biblical foundation, which is the best place to start. So Hebrews 12, 2 says looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Well, and it's interesting when you start pulling this apart. I kind of dug into it a little bit today. In the original Greek, this word despising means to look down on, to treat as of no account and to despise, so I find that fascinating. It's not that Jesus didn't feel any shame. Crucifixion at the time especially, I mean it was the most humiliating, shame-filled death imaginable. But Jesus viewed it as a small issue compared to the joy that was set before him, which is us, our salvation, his victory, his reunion with the Father and bringing us all in to his kingdom. That's, I mean, I think that's just amazing For the joy set before him.

Speaker 1: 5:10

He scorned the shame and went to the cross. I love that.

Speaker 2: 5:15

Yeah. So when we really look at this, jesus reframed shame, he saw it through a lens of eternity, not our time here on earth, and that's our invitation to.

Speaker 1: 5:31

It's. It's helpful At least it has been for me over the years to kind of look at how does shame land in my life. You know where does it come from, and really sometimes shame comes, of course, from our own failures. I bet you, you, you could even think of something as you're listening.

Speaker 1: 5:47

You can think of something that you did or didn't do as well as you wanted to do. That kind of caused shame to crop up. Sometimes shame comes to us from things done to us, and that is definitely a case for me. In fact, I think that I was in some ways wired for shame by my parents because of some of the things they did and whatnot, and then sometimes shame comes through lies we've believed for years and I think this is just so helpful. Psalm 42 and 43, they repeat a question three different times why, my soul, are you downcast? Why are you so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God. I love that. I'll let you talk about that?

Speaker 2: 6:38

Yeah, no, I love it too. I love that the psalmist talks to his own soul. It's such a great example of mind renewal, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 6:48

It's like tell yourself the truth. Tell myself the truth. What is the truth from God's perspective? Say it out loud, you know. Say it again. Say it again. What is the truth? And here the psalmist is saying hey, soul, don't stay bowed down under this weight. There's hope in God. You don't have to stay in this place. Talk to your own soul. I mean, it might sound a little crazy, but it's absolutely not. It's powerful.

Speaker 1: 7:18

And that's mind renewal renewing our minds with God's own thoughts, choosing our thoughts rather than letting those lies and runaway thoughts just take us Right exactly it's a beautiful thing, it's God's design and in this example for us in the Psalms, it gives us a model we want to name our discouragement honestly, for me it helps so much when I recognize huh, this is shame. I think what I'm feeling is shame. I recognize it and we're going to talk more about that in a few minutes. But then, speaking the truth back to ourselves, what are God's thoughts about what I'm feeling? Shame, in response to you know, that is renewing my mind. And when I think God's thoughts about shame, for instance, or whatever it is that caused me to feel shame, the more I think God's thoughts, the more I am likely to believe what he says and act on what he says. And shame just can't coexist with God's truth, just can't Right right.

Speaker 2: 8:22

Well, and I think part of the difficulty with this is we don't stop long enough to identify what's going on. Right, I think that's a big one. It's like why don't I just stop it? What's going on with me? Why do I feel so bad online to surf the web or buy things I can't?

Speaker 1: 8:47

afford. I mean truly. It's to distract me from feeling this thing. Oftentimes it's shame I'm feeling and I don't want to.

Speaker 2: 8:55

Yeah. So so much of this really is an invitation from God. It's like come, come and talk to me about this. Let's reframe this. Let's look at it for what it is. So here's a truth list from Psalm 42 and 43 to help when shame or discouragement weighs heavy. So this is great. We love truth lists at Revelation. Within A truth list is simply it can be short, it can be long, it can be one truth to help us to be grounded. To help us to be grounded in God's truth and in his perspective, rather than the world's or the enemy's or our own. And so this is a beautiful list and it has scripture with each one. The first one is from Psalm 42, 5. God is my hope, plain and simple. God is my hope, plain and simple god is my hope.

Speaker 1: 9:49

Well, and I love this truth list because it's not just a truth list, it's also like a god list, because every one of these starts with god and most of them start with. God is so the second one is God is my savior and my God, and that is from Psalm 42, verse five and 11.

Speaker 2: 10:10

The third one is God's presence is my deepest longing. Wow, that's from Psalm 42, verse one.

Speaker 1: 10:20

Number four God's love is constant, even in the night. Psalm 42, verse 8. Beautiful.

Speaker 2: 10:28

Number five God is my stronghold and defender. From Psalm 43, verse 2.

Speaker 1: 10:37

The next one is God's light and truth guide me. Psalm 43, verse 3.

Speaker 2: 10:44

And then the last one we have here, but there could be um hundreds a hundred more a hundred more at least God is my joy and delight, and that's from Psalm 43, four. I mean imagine like, for example, getting ready for a really stressful meeting at work or something like that, taking this truth list with you and reading it before you go, reading it in the bathroom, reading it before that meeting begins, reading it after you're telling your soul what is true from a perspective of eternity.

Speaker 1: 11:19

It changes everything it really does. I'm thinking of some things that I have struggled and I've noticed in the last few days that my response is shame to what I'm thinking. And if I were to refute those thoughts with a list like this, I mean, it would make a huge difference right in the moment. It would make a huge difference. Of course, we can also use these kinds of lists in our quiet times, when we get up in the morning, in the middle of the day, anytime really. You don't have to be in the shower right.

Speaker 1: 11:54

You don't have to be in the midst of a shame session in order to pull this out. You can proactively, preemptively, before shame starts calling, have these thoughts kind of going through your head, and so you want to speak these truths out loud. You want you could even journal about them, turn them into a praise fest. You know, god, you are my hope, god, you are my savior, my God, et cetera. I just love doing that and what I found is, when I praise him, and what I found is when.

Speaker 2: 12:45

Praise him when you are anxious. Praise him when you're confused. Praise him when you're overwhelmed. Praise him when you're, you know, soaked in sorrow. Praise him. The praising turns our hearts toward him in a way that nothing else really can.

Speaker 1: 13:03

So true.

Speaker 2: 13:04

And it's mind renewal and it's gratitude. It's like all the best things wrapped into one and, of course, all over the word. That's what God tells us to do Praise me, thank me and praise me in all circumstances. So we want to do that. There's something very, very special and unique about praising God very, very special and unique about praising God?

Speaker 1: 13:29

Yeah, definitely I think of. Was it Barnabas and Peter who were in jail and in shackles after something, and then they started singing hymns.

Speaker 2: 13:34

And wow, can you just imagine. And how?

Speaker 1: 13:37

the other prisoners were hearing this going on probably at first were like shut up, it's time to sleep or something like that, but then I mean it seems as though it had a great effect. So I just I love that If I can follow their example and praise in the middle of a disappointing situation or when I'm feeling shame about something.

Speaker 2: 13:58

I know it's going to change a lot. Yes, it does. And I know, for me, when I'm getting into kind of a not a downward spiral, but just I know that I'm looking at life kind of in a downhearted way, I can ask myself when was the last time you praised God? It's like, oh, I forgot you know I've been too busy.

Speaker 2: 14:22

Well, no wonder, and it takes about two seconds to do it. You know it can be so, so quick and it's like okay, now I have my perspective back where it needs to be. So here's another one, straight from Hebrews 12,. Two for scorning the shame Number one Jesus endured the cross for me. That was for me, that was for you, that was for you, heidi, that was for all of us personally, as if we were the only person on the whole planet. Jesus endured the cross for me. That is a powerful truth.

Speaker 2: 14:57

And then number two shame doesn't get the final word. Shame doesn't get the final word. No, God gets the final word, always. His truth and the way he sees me. That's what gets the final word. And then number three goes along with that one. My identity is not defined by my failures. That's not my identity. I am a girl of God, I am a daughter of the King. That is my identity. My identity is not defined by what I do or don't do.

Speaker 2: 15:34

And then number four joy outweighs shame every time, and that's the joy of the Lord that we're talking about. That's not just fleeting happiness when we go to a counter for comfort. That's the joy of the Lord that we're talking about. That's not just fleeting happiness when we go to a counterfeit comfort. That's the joy of the Lord. What's that verse where it talks about the fullness of joy in God's presence? I love that verse. Joy outweighs shame every time. And then number five shame is temporary. Glory is eternal. We want so much, as much as possible, for our, our perspective to be eternal, as hard as that is. But when we look to God, we look to who he is and what he does, we can see eternity and shame goes away.

Speaker 2: 16:21

And number six I can fix my eyes on Jesus away. And number six I can fix my eyes on Jesus, not my past. And that could be your past five minutes ago, it could be an hour, days, weeks could be years. You can fix your eyes on Christ, not your past, and that's powerful.

Speaker 1: 16:41

And I just have to insert here we're not talking about spiritual bypass or disregarding the feelings that we have and pretending they don't matter Really. For me, what makes the difference is not against the backdrop of the love of God found in Christ, and that's the cross, and so I want to put it in its proper perspective. Yes, I'm feeling downcast. Yes, it's true, I'm feeling shame, but what is also true is all of these things we've been talking about in these truth lists and I think I'm going to turn that last one into a prayer right now, because that is.

Speaker 1: 17:35

I mean for me. This just lifts my heart so much so this is a prayer for scorning shame. Oh Jesus, you carried the full weight of shame, public scorn, abandonment, the curse of sin, and you treated it as small because you knew joy was coming. There was a bigger truth yet ahead, and today I want to fix my eyes on you, not my mistakes, not my fears. Teach me to scorn shame the way you did, to see it as temporary, really, compared to the eternal joy of walking with you all the days of my life. Thank you, lord, god, amen, amen, beautiful, beautiful prayer.

Speaker 2: 18:21

So much hope there. Amen, Beautiful beautiful prayer. So much hope there. Okay, so let's get practical. Here are 10 passages to help us scorn shame in daily life.

Speaker 1: 18:35

Get a pen and pencil ready?

Speaker 2: 18:36

Yeah, if you happen to have a pen or pencil, or you can put it in the notes section of your phone or you can listen again later. These are just really really great, powerful grounding verses to help us when we're struggling with shame. The first one is Romans 8.1. There is no condemnation in Christ. Yay, one of my very favorite truths.

Speaker 1: 18:57

I love it. Romans 10.11. Whoever trusts in him will never be put to shame.

Speaker 2: 19:05

Yay, yay, isaiah 54.4. Do not fear disgrace, you will not be humiliated.

Speaker 1: 19:16

I like that. Yeah, psalm 34, verse 5. Those who look to him are radiant. Yay, I want me some radiant.

Speaker 2: 19:26

Absolutely, Absolutely. That's how he sees us. I love it. Um. From first John, one verse nine confess and be cleansed. Absolutely Beautiful.

Speaker 1: 19:40

Micah, chapter seven, verses eight and nine Though I fall, I will rise.

Speaker 2: 19:47

Beautiful. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. I am a new creation in Christ. A new creation in Christ, I love it.

Speaker 1: 20:00

Philippians 3, verse 13 and 14. Forget forgetting what's behind. I press on.

Speaker 2: 20:06

Okay, two more. First Peter, chapter two, verse six trust in him, not shame.

Speaker 1: 20:17

Colossians 2, verses 13 and 14, sin nailed to the cross. That's what we see in that scripture. I love it. Hmm, nailed to the cross. That's what we see in that scripture.

Speaker 2: 20:25

I love it. So someone listening might ask do I need to repent from feeling shame?

Speaker 1: 20:35

That's such an interesting question too, and we were asked that on Monday by one of the participants in our Zoom from shame to shalom class. And here's the thing and I think this is really, you know, everybody needs to take this question to God about repenting of anything. Again, repentance is an invitation to be refreshed by God, not to be condemned by God, not to be punished. So think of it that way. But here's the thing Shame itself is not sin. It helps to look at it more like a signal. Sometimes it points us to sin that might need confession, because oftentimes we feel shame in response to our own sin if it's not confessed. Other times, though, shame points to lies we've believed or wounds that we've been carrying, and we repent of sin. Of course, sin done against us that's caused us shame that's not ours to repent of, no, no. But we do want to bring shame into God's light for him to heal and for us to kind of replace with his perfect, beautiful truth.

Speaker 2: 21:47

Yeah, so let's go ahead and walk through. What does it look like? Let's walk through the full five-step process. That might be really helpful for those listening and for us to move from shame to freedom. Let's kind of take that?

Speaker 2: 22:05

what steps can we take? That's kind of practical and specific. I think this is a great place to go. So the first one is we need to be sure that we are bringing shame into the light, and that's from Psalm 34, verse five. We want to go to God like he is our very best friend, because he is, we want to name it before him, talk to him about what happened or what's happening in your heart, what you're feeling. Talk to him about it and then maybe later you'll want to talk to someone else who loves the Lord and just be able to process that. But start with God. Start with God, yeah, definitely, because he will give you so much insight. He will listen lovingly and with compassion and mercy and looking at you as you speak in a way that is total love. He, you are radiant in his sight, think about that as you go to him.

Speaker 2: 23:03

When you go to him, remember who you are.

Speaker 1: 23:06

And then it can be super helpful to ask God this is the second step is to ask him to reveal the root. Psalm 139, verses 23 and 24. And this is search me, oh God, and know my heart, because what we want to know is is the shame I feel right now, lord, is it in response to sin I've committed, in response to sin I've committed? Is it in response to lies I'm believing? Or is it in response to wounds that have been made against me, my own heart, my own body, maybe even so, we want God to reveal the root. He knows it all.

Speaker 2: 23:43

He can search our hearts and know us and show us and he wants nothing more for us to be healed and free.

Speaker 2: 23:53

Think of it that way when you go to him God wants me to be healed and free, okay, so the third one is confess, renounce or release, and that's from 1 John, 1, 9. So, for example, if it is something that we have messed up on, and we mess up all the time, then we want to confess it. That's where confession comes in. Just put it all, bring it all into the light, um, where healing can happen. And then, if it's about lies that we're believing that are not true, we want to renounce those. We want to let go of those lies and replace them with God's truth. Or if we are experiencing shame because of something that someone has done to us, we want to go through that process with the Lord of releasing that to him and asking for his wisdom and strength Forgiveness might be involved, all kinds of things and his healing. Yeah, yeah, we want to begin with talking with him about all of this so that he can bring healing.

Speaker 1: 25:01

The fourth step in this process of moving from shame to complete freedom is to replace the shame, especially if we're believing lies. We want to replace the shame with truth. Jesus says the truth will set you free, and so this is where I like to use one of a bazillion mind renewal tools that we have, because they're rooted in scripture. They're rooted in truth, pure truth, so I can really experience the changing of my beliefs, the changing of how I'm feeling in this moment. If I'm bogged down by shame, I can speak truth over myself, like the psalmist does in Psalm 42 and 43. And I will see a shift.

Speaker 1: 25:42

It's a beautiful place to go with the Lord, and if you're not sure what is true, god ask him. Just like that, and he will lay on your heart. If you are in Christ, you have his Holy Spirit in you, and it also says in first Corinthians that you have the mind of Christ. So you can think God's thoughts even on the fly, even if you haven't memorized scripture, even if you aren't sure what the Bible says, and you're a brand new Christian.

Speaker 2: 26:09

This comes up, so just ask him what is the truth.

Speaker 1: 26:13

I should replace this shame with.

Speaker 2: 26:16

Yes. And then number five praise God for the exchange. So here comes the praise, isaiah 61, three joy for shame, beauty for ashes. Praise God for what he does all the time with us. Praise God for the exchange of shame for freedom and healing.

Speaker 1: 26:40

Yes, okay. So here's an idea that if you're somebody who kind of likes to do charts or journaling, you might want to try this Make a page with three columns on it, and in one column, on the far left, what I feel shame about is the kind of column header, and then the middle column says what God says about it, and then the third column, on the far right, says my response of faith. This can be a terrific way of kind of laying it out there and bringing it to the Lord. So I'm going to say that again, three columns far left says what I feel shame about as the column header, the middle column is what God says about it and the one on the right is my response of faith. Oh, I think that sounds like a wonderful idea.

Speaker 2: 27:30

It does. I love that, I love that.

Speaker 1: 27:33

To just kind of keep current with the Lord about it all.

Speaker 2: 27:37

Okay, so let's just take a little pause here. Maybe you're listening and you're actually feeling the weight of shame in your own life thinking about what you're going through as we've been talking Right now. Take one thing that you feel shame about. Just take one thing, picture it in your hands and name it.

Speaker 1: 28:02

We're going to give you a moment to just think about that, and then I'm going to lead us in a prayer. What is one thing you feel shame about? And Lord bless you If you don't have anything that comes to mind. That's awesome. Ask him, Lord, is there something that I am not addressing that causes shame, even in a subtle way, in my life? All right, so, lord, we bring this shame to you. We confess what needs confessing.

Speaker 1: 28:37

You might want to do that now, quietly, listener. We reject lies that say we are worthless or beyond your grace. Beyond your grace, we release wounds into your hands. Now that we've released those things, we receive your truth. We are forgiven, we are free, we are loved and we are covered by the righteousness of Christ. Yes, thank you, lord, god.

Speaker 2: 29:11

Amen, amen. Okay, we have a couple questions that you might want to write down to think about. Reflect on journal discuss. What truth about God do I need to speak over my shame today? And that could just be one truth or two or three. What truth about God do I need to speak over my shame today? That's the first one.

Speaker 1: 29:38

Oh, I have an answer. Heidi has her hand up.

Speaker 2: 29:43

Oh the.

Speaker 1: 29:43

Thing that popped into my head when Christina said that is God. You are bigger than my shame, and he really is. He really is. He eclipses any shame in my life. Now if I could live as though that's true, because it is. How might that impact me?

Speaker 2: 30:02

Wow, wow, beautiful. The second one is which scripture will I memorize when shame tries to return? So and it might even be a part of a scripture, it might be a truth from a scripture. Which scripture do you want to kind of hang on to, so that when shame pops up, you can say those words of truth out loud from God's word? And then how can I replace old lies with God's truth this week?

Speaker 1: 30:38

Great question.

Speaker 2: 30:39

Yeah, those are good questions.

Speaker 1: 30:42

Well, friends, shame does not get the final word no, it doesn't no way no way. Jesus bore our shame. He scorned the shame and he rose above the shame, and he's bigger than any shame, and so can we do so through his power, his truth, his joy, identifying with him and his death and resurrection. We can scorn the shame as well, and I just love that truth.

Speaker 2: 31:11

Yeah. So I mean, when you feel like you are living in shame, when you feel like shame is taking you over, overwhelming, you remember, you have a choice in this. There are some very practical steps that you can take with the Lord to find healing and freedom. You don't have to stay there, you don't have to live there, Not at all. Fix your eyes on Christ, speak truth to your soul and praise him for the great exchange joy for shame, beauty for ashes, freedom for captivity. Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen. I love that truth. So we are so, so glad that you've been here with us today, and we certainly hope that you will join us for our next episode of Revelation Within On the go, on the Go. We will see you next time. Bye for now.

Speaker 1: 32:18

Bye.