Is shame a biblical concept? Can it be good? - Shame - TouchPoints

2 Corinthians 12:7-9So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

1 Timothy 1:15-16This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.

Paul had a shameful past, yet through that, he became a prime example of God’s love and mercy. Paul suffered some sort of weakness he was ashamed of—perhaps a physical ailment, a mental health struggle, a temptation, or some other problem. Yet this weakness kept him humble and reliant on Christ. Shame may not be a good thing, per say, but God can use even our most shameful experiences for his glory.

1 Corinthians 6:4-6If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to shame you. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers!

1 Corinthians 15:34Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.

Sometimes we are blind to our own sin. It may take someone else to call us out for us to recognize our problem. Being called out may cause us some degree of public shame, but when it is done in a wise and loving way, it can inspire us to repent and seek a transformed life. Paul sometimes did this among the churches he cared for. For instance, the Corinthians were suing one another in the public courts, rather than working out their differences as fellow believers. Paul called them out for this unchristian behavior, and the resulting humiliation became a wake-up call for them to honor Christ more wholeheartedly.

2 Samuel 12:7-13Then Nathan said to David, “. . . Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. . . . Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

David experienced shame when he was called out by his friend Nathan, but that shame inspired healthy guilt. Because of his shame, David finally recognized the evil of what he had done to Uriah, and he was able to repent and turn his life around.

Psalm 51:2-3Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.

Psalm 51:8-12Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Psalm 51 is famous as David’s psalm of repentance after he committed adultery with Bathsheba. David experienced a great deal of guilt and shame, and he admitted he had done wrong publicly and before God. But then, rather than dwelling on his guilt and shame, he prayed for restoration. Even after his terrible sin, David looked forward to a joyful relationship with God. Guilt and shame are a warning to inspire us to change our path, but they are never meant to be our destination.

Psalm 32:2-5Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Psalm 34:5Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

Psalm 103:12He [the Lord] has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

David describes the joy of forgiveness in the psalms he wrote. When we confess our sins and turn away from them, we no longer need to live in the shadow of shame.