The Wound

What if your deepest wound is where God longs to bring your deepest healing?

Tal learned one of shame's greatest lies: that healing requires hiding. The enemy whispered, "Hide, withdraw, cover up. This just proves how broken and defective you are. If they see what you truly are, they won't love you." But hiding only allowed the infection to spread, creating oozing wounds and devastating isolation.

This is the voice of shame, not guilt. Guilt comments on your behaviors. It says, "You screwed up," and often leads you to make something right. Shame isn't satisfied with such small fish. Shame wants to tell you who you are: "You're a screw up." After all, if shame can affect your identity, then it affects every area of your life.

But remember the Table? God already told you who you really are. You are beloved, holy, and a delighted-in saint. Your heart is now fused with Jesus. Shame will always invite you to doubt this incredible, miraculous news and believe its lies instead. This is the scandalous truth of the gospel: Jesus died not only for our sin, but for our shame, too.

As Tal experienced, the Shamesong can show us where we need to experience God's presence and healing. When we bring our wounds into the light, both with God and with others, the shame that fed on secrecy and darkness begins to starve. In the light, we can take in God's truth about who we are and remind each other of our true identity. We get to change the channel from the Shamesong's repetitive tune to the Windsong's sweeping melody. Which song do you want to listen to?

Reflection Questions:

1. What wounds (physical, emotional, or spiritual) are you tempted to hide from others?
2. What are some of your most common shame messages? These might sound like negative "I am___________" statements.
3. What does God have to say about those shame statements? What would it look like to trust his voice in the Windsong over the Shamesong?