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[center:7993fa638d]What Does the Bible Say About Shame?[/center:7993fa638d]


by David Alsobrook

"For your shame you shall have double..." (Isaiah 61:7)


[center:7993fa638d]WHAT IS SHAME?[/center:7993fa638d]

Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary ¹ gives this definition: SHAME -- A negative emotion caused by an awareness of wrongdoing, hurt ego, or guilt. In the Bible, the feeling of shame is normally caused by public exposure of one's guilt (Genesis 2:25; 3:10). Shame may also be caused by a hurt reputation or embarrassment, whether or not this feeling is due to sin (Psalm 25:2-3; Proverbs 19:26; Romans 1:16).

Joseph, not wishing to shame Mary, desired to divorce her secretly (Matthew 1:19). Ultimately, God will expose the guilt of the ungodly, putting them to shame (Daniel 12:2). God also puts to shame the wise of the world by exposing their guilt before Him and by choosing to save the foolish of this world by a "foolish" message (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). Finally, our Lord Jesus suffered the shame of the Cross because He was put on public display as the recipient of God's wrath (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 12:2).


[center:7993fa638d]HOW DOES SHAME AFFECT US?[/center:7993fa638d]


1. Shame always results in a loss of dignity.


If a father really wanted a son but got a girl he can unknowingly damage her sense of personhood by treating her like a boy and shaming her when she acts like a little girl. There are many masculine women in our society whose personhood was not properly nurtured during childhood. "Daddy's tomboy" for a girl is not anymore healthy than "Mommy's little girl" for a boy!



Adopted children are sometimes stigmatized by our society. They grow up with a spirit of rejection, feeling unwanted or illegitimate. Even as adults they often feel loss because they do not know their biological parents and go to great lengths to find them.

When children are punished in anger or punished in the wrong way (slapping in the face, etc.) their personal dignity is demolished by the authority figure in their lives which can cause them to incorrectly surmise that God thinks they have little value, too. A damaged person is often tempted to doubt God's ability to restore from guilt and shame. God encourages all who were shamed in their childhood, however, that "Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth" (Isaiah 54:4).



2. Shame produces emotional pain.

When a person is shamed his or her emotions are damaged. This causes a sense of loss, hurt, and devaluation.

The macho mentality refuses to acknowledge the reality of emotional pain boasting, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." God's Word, however, teaches that words can injure the innermost part of a person (Proverbs 18:8). Unlike broken skin, though, a broken spirit does not automatically heal.

Emotional pain can be so real it can actually cause physical pain--heaviness in the chest, upset of the digestive process, headaches, sleep disturbances, etc. Sometimes there is a physical pain which is based solely in the emotions.

3. Shamed people medicate their pain.




[center:7993fa638d]JESUS CHRIST, OUR SUBSTITUTE[/center:7993fa638d]


[center:7993fa638d]HOW DID JESUS BEAR OUR SHAME?[/center:7993fa638d]


[center:7993fa638d]SHAME BY SPITTING[/center:7993fa638d]

In the Old Testament spitting in the face was a gesture of contempt, a deliberate insult. Job, during his trial, was such an object of disgrace that people spat upon him in disgust (Job 30:10). He not only lost his children, his wealth, and his health--he lost his honor, too, and the people expressed it by spitting on the poor fellow as they walked by.

Miriam, after criticizing Moses for his choice of a wife, was smitten with leprosy. Moses prayed for God to miraculously heal her rather than having her wait throughout a seclusion period demanded for curing leprosy in the Levitical laws (Leviticus 13, 14). The Lord answered him, "If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again" (Numbers 12:14).

In this scripture we see reference to the accepted custom of a father spitting on his daughter if she had behaved foolishly. The daughter would be publicly disgraced, though not disowned, by her father's public spittle. After a period of humiliation and isolation she would be welcomed back to her family. If this seems harsh, and it was, just remember that a son who behaved foolishly could be brought to the city's gate and stoned! (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).


[center:7993fa638d]THEY SHALL SPIT UPON HIM[/center:7993fa638d]

Jesus Christ was spat upon during the course of His vicarious sufferings (Matthew 27:30; Mark 15:19). He foretold this would happen two different times: when He was on earth (Mark 10:34; Luke 18:32) and centuries before He became flesh. The Word spoke through Isaiah, "I gave My back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from SHAME AND SPITTING" (Isaiah 50:6).

Notice how the phrase "shame and spitting" go together in Isaiah's prophecy. Jesus actually bore our shame when He was spit upon so we could be emotionally healed of shame and disgrace! Christ was mocked and devalued, jeered and mistreated on our behalf.

[center:7993fa638d]HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DESPISED?[/center:7993fa638d]


Jesus Christ made those He contacted feel better about themselves. Even an adulteress walked away with her sense of worth restored (John 8). Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would be "...despised and rejected of men" as Spurgeon commented "so the reader need not bear it" (Isaiah 53:3). Christ bore the emotional ills of His people so we would not have to medicate our pain. Instead we can believe that He "...carried our sorrows" for us (Isaiah 53:4).


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