Scripture: Psalm 25:1-3
Journal: How are shame and self-contempt affecting your life these days? How do you fight them? How successful has that been? How do the words of this ancient prayer offer
you help and hope?
Reflection:
Make no mistake about it, the battle against
shame and self-contempt is never-ending.
Their continual assault on our hearts and souls will never stop, at
least this side of heaven. Because shame
and self-contempt are two of the main weapons the enemy uses to triumph over
those of us who struggle through life on a regular basis. The reason they are so effective is that, to
a large degree, they are unrecognized.
Somehow the enemy has convinced us that the voices we hear, telling us
how miserable and worthless we are, come from ourselves rather than from him. What a brilliant strategy—to turn us against
ourselves. Which then leads to further
shame and self-contempt. It is a
never-ending downward spiral.
That’s why I find so much
comfort in the first few verses of Psalm 25.
The words of this ancient prayer give me hope that this battle
can—and will—be won. They also give me help
in the fighting of this battle. The
words of Psalm 25 give me weapons to use when I feel overwhelmed, beaten up,
and defeated. They empower me when it
feels like I am at the mercy of forces far greater and more powerful than I.
All I have to do is use them—by
praying them. All I have to do is
recognize the strategy of the enemy, lift my soul to the Lord, and trust in him
rather than trusting in myself, or the world around me to tell me who I am and
what I am worth. To you, O Lord, I
lift up my soul. In you I trust, O my
God. When I lift my soul to the
Lord, and trust only in my God, then shame and self-contempt begin to lose
their grip on me. Then I am free to be
the person that God created me to be.
Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Closing Prayer: Help us, O Lord, to lift our
souls to you. Help us, this day, to walk
in the truth of your love rather than the lies of the enemy. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment