The shadow of shame followed him like a dog on a leash reluctant to
walk.
Vinny grew up in a home where religious rules were forced
down his throat like a nasty medicine. For his first fourteen years, he
could do nothing about his situation-other than stew on the inside. At
fifteen, a driver's license and a new car gave him the freedom he
wanted. Add a few rowdy friends, and his course of rebellion was set.
Vinny's road of rebellion began with smoking and drinking. School
was merely a place to hang out when he'd missed too many days to stay
out again. The habits soon led to acts of vandalism. Acts that could
have landed him in jail-or at least caused him to do community service
and pay a large fine-had he been caught.
By the time Vinny was
sixteen, he had more than a few notches of rebellion in his belt. But he
wasn't really proud of them. His parents and others had taught him
better. The day came when he confessed all his mess and turned his life
around, but the shadow of shame remained.
Vinny wondered whether
God could still use him. No one except his friends knew all he had done.
On Sundays, he appeared to be a normal teenager. The perfect preacher's
kid. It wasn't until some years later that he came to understand the
full and complete forgiveness of Christ and moved beyond his past.
I can identify with Vinny. I, too, have things in my past I'm not
proud of. At one time, they held me back. I wondered if God could use
someone with a sordid past. But like the psalmist, I looked to God, and
He removed the shadow of shame.
I remembered the verse that said
those in Christ were new creatures whose old things had passed away. And
the one that reminded me I was no longer under condemnation. And the one
that said confession brings forgiveness and a renewed relationship with
Christ. I looked at the many seedy characters in the Bible who God chose
to use despite their shameful pasts. I began looking to God and stopped
listening to Satan who said the shadow of shame made me useless. Shame
became just a shadow with no substance.
Don't let the shadow of
shame keep you from serving Christ in the present.
Martin Wiles
Hodges, South Carolina, USA
The Shadow of Shame
Today's Bible Verse:
"Those who look to him for help will be
radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces." (Psalm
34:5 NLT)
The Shadow of Shame
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