CHAPTER 23. GUILT AND SHAME

A group discussion that was part of an event hosted by my Non-For-Profit, HELP.SORRY.LOVE NFP, included a mental health exercise led by one of our experts in the mental health field. The activity brought me to terms with a burden of shame that I had been bearing ever since I could remember. I had the opportunity to admit this burden to the group and by doing so I felt an overwhelming sense of renewal and gratitude that filled my heart. After the exercise our discussion turned to the difference between guilt and shame and how the two can affect us differently. The process by which guilt descends into the chambers of our heart where it is converted to shame is likened to a prisoner in solitary confinement. The importance of honest prayer is discussed more extensively than in previous chapters as well as how guilt and shame can be released through Christ. One fundamental truth about dealing with shame is that, as a follower of Christ we give up our right to privacy. Holding on to shame can also cause us to protect our dark secrets with prideful arrogance. The final thoughts of the chapter are presented by way of sharing my own struggles with pride. I would use prideful arrogance to bolster up my own feelings of inadequacy and as means to manipulate others. "Ego, pride and arrogance are a fuel that burns fast and strong but once it is used up it will leave you lost, stranded and alone".

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (II Corinthians 12: 9-10 NIV)