Oh, the Shame of it All!

A while back, a blog friend of mine had a post that really struck a chord.

The pressing issue was the "self-esteem" movement that is trying to sweep through the church. In REALITY, a good self-esteem is realizing that mankind was in such filth that God HAD to send His Son, Jesus Christ, down here to be our Sacrifice OR God would have had to destroy us. And because of His love, and our filthy sinful natures, He did just that; with Jesus being our perfect once-for-all sacrificial Lamb. Thank You, Lord!

I don't know about you, but I am utterly un-deserving. I've been a Christian since an Imperials concert I attended in 1982 (yea, Russ Taff!) - even though I know I'm forgiven - even though I know the Lord threw my sins into the depths of the sea - as far as the east is from the west - I still remember alot of it. I AM UNDESERVING! I love the Lord BECAUSE of my shame!

I identify so closely with the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet. Read Luke 7:36-50. While she cried such tears as to wet Jesus' feet, she then began to wipe them with her hair, she kissed His precious feet and then broke her costly bottle of perfume and poured out what was probably the most precious item she owned onto the most precious Person she knew...THE ONE who forgave her.

The self-righteous Pharisees thought this disgraceful; Jesus was letting this sinful, immoral woman TOUCH Him and - gasp! - WORSHIP Him! In Luke 7:41-47, Jesus had this to say,

"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii, and the other 50. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give Me any water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give Me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not put oil on My head, but she has poured perfume on My feet. Therefore, I tell you, her MANY sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." [emphasis mine~KW<><]

I can hardly read that without weeping because I love much - part of the reason is because of my shame. The Pharisees didn't – was it because of their "self-esteem" and their LACK of shame? I think it not a coincidence that she placed herself BEHIND Jesus. I think she placed herself there because of her shame. Yes, she was forgiven; yes, she knew Jesus loved her - but living the life that she lived would take a while to "get over."

I see so many today - "celebrities," political leaders, even extended family members - who have NO shame. Where did that go? I can remember when my daddy would scold me; all he had to do to make me feel the depth of my transgression was to rub his pointer fingers across each other and say, "shame, shame." I felt it! I would absolutely melt. But, like the gracious daddy that he was, he loved me enough to forgive me - EVERY time.

Where is that shame today? Romans 1:32 says, "Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." [emphasis mine~KW<><] These are such pagan times. Was Sodom and Gomorrah really worse than THIS? We need to do as Steve Walden (a homeschoolblogger.com blogger) says and do some WITHnessing! Others call it Life-style Evangelism. Can there be true repentance w/out feeling the shame of what we've done?

Lord, have mercy, have mercy, have mercy! Please help us to be attractive for Jesus to a dying world. Let them smell the sweet fragrance of YOU upon us. Amen.

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><