Podcast Episode 129 - Shammy away your shame with this key ingredient
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Do you ever feel shame?
Have you ever said, “what’s wrong with me!”?
Or “I’m broken!” I know I have!
We’re talking about getting rid of shame with a key ingredient.
So, today is for you if:
If you’re ready to stop feeling broken.
If you’re ready to release the shame.
If you desire to step into your true identity, shame is holding you back.
Most of us have messed up somewhere along the way and felt bad about it. That’s guilt.
Guilt says, “dang I messed up. I can make a change.”
The other day I missed a scheduled networking call. I realized it wasn’t on my calendar, which was a failure on my part. I felt guilty. I apologized, was able to reschedule it, and all was well.
But shame is a whole other monkey.
Shame says, “there’s something wrong with me.” “I’m broken.”
When I went through a divorce in my 20s, I felt shame.
You see, my parents had gone through a three-year separation between my 4th and 6th-grade years. But they got back together after that three years.
Here I was, “the good little Christian girl,” and I couldn’t make my marriage work and felt deep shame. Something must be seriously wrong with me…broken beyond repair.
I hadn’t realized how deep the shame went until the church I was at offered a Divorce Recovery class. A friend tried to talk me into going, and it hit me how broken I really felt.
Fortunately, I listened to my friend and went through the class… the best thing I could have done for myself. It was the beginning of my healing journey.
How about you? Do you feel shame?
That leads me to the first step to releasing shame.
1. Expose the shame
You have to lay it all out on the table and expose it.
See the shame for what it is.
Look at how it shows up.
Face it head-on.
When I exposed my shame, I realized I thought I was better than divorce. Really I had pride and low self-esteem that made me ashamed of my divorce.
2. Wipe away the shame with grace
Grace is the key ingredient to removing shame.
Grace is your shammy that comes in and wipes away the shame.
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Grace is greater than your shame.
Receive Father’s grace. Allow His grace to come in and wipe away your shame.
3. Rinse and repeat with thankfulness
Shame will come back up because we’ve programmed our minds and body to hold onto the shame.
But we can release it from our bodies and reprogram our minds by thanking God for His grace and forgiveness.
Thank Him that His grace is greater than your shame.
Every time shame tries to come up and take you back down into that black hole of shame, thank God you’re forgiven, and His grace wipes away your shame.
Remember, you’re not broken. You are Father’s priceless masterpiece!
If you need more help overcoming shame, check out Your Fearless Journey podcast with Becky, Kat and Heather. We have a three-part series on shame, including shame we put on ourselves, shame others try to put on us and more tools to help you overcome shame.
Episode 017 - Shame, it ain’t good for what ails ya
Episode 018 - Shame on us - when others try to put shame on us
Episode 019 - Tools to overcome shame