Build UP: Shame

1Corinthians 6:5
I say this to shame you.

Like my children, I often need reminders from my heavenly Parent as to proper behavior. Most often my rebukes come in the form of a sense of guilt related to a recent action. For me, shame is still a pretty useful tool in the hands of the Lord.

I've noticed though, that shame doesn't hold the same rank in our culture that it once held. It shouldn't be too much of surprise that shame has ceased to be an effective tool. After all, the world we live in shouts at us daily to do whatever we want, because you deserve to satisfy your every whim.

A sense of shame has been replaced by blaming others. When shame enters, our cultured response is to blame someone else for what we've done. It seems that every bad behavior is the fault of someone else.

Bottom line, if God can't reach us through the use of shame, then what must He resort too? It seems to me that a tablespoon of shame is much easier to swallow then the harsher medicine that is at the Lord's disposal.

Awake to the shame,
Lon