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Lent 2023 has arrived. And you've got to get it.

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LENT 2023 IS HERE: NEW WINE ➔
LENT 2023 IS HERE: NEW WINE ➔

The Problem with Toxic Shame

what is toxic shame

In His goodness, God has turned the shame I carried all my life into His fame. He has made me into a survivor with a purpose: to let men and women everywhere know that no matter what they have gone through, healing is available and possible to all God’s children. I can finally say that I am thankful for my scars.

Of course, it wasn’t always this way. It took me years to understand and realize how shame was hijacking my happiness and stealing my joy.

Jesus invites you to bring the things you are most ashamed of into His healing light and His love. He gave this power to His priests through His Church in the Sacrament of Confession (see John 20:23). Jesus is longing to show you His merciful love, especially in those dark places where shame has taken root.

As a trauma survivor, the biggest problem I see with this type of toxic shame is that most of us don’t know that it doesn’t come from God. Shame comes from the evil one who hates all God’s children and would do just about anything to keep us away from God and from experiencing His love and mercy.

Guilt Versus Shame

There is also a great misunderstanding that needs to be clarified. That is the belief that guilt and shame are the same. The biggest difference is that guilt needs to be forgiven and shame needs to be healed.

Guilt is inspired by God through a well-formed conscience. Guilt is remorse for having committed some offense or wrong, real or imagined. Guilt is able to separate the act from the person. We shouldn't feel any less of a person for sinning, for we know that we are imperfect. We are weak and in need of God’s grace to avoid sin.

The second, which is so often confused with guilt, is shame. Shame finds its roots in Satan, for he was the one who first tempted our first parents to sin and to this day he continues to shame us every time we sin. Shame tells us we are unforgivable and unlovable. Shame also tells us that everyone would be ashamed of us if they knew of our deep wounds from sin. Shame makes us hide not only from God but also from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Destruction Caused by Shame

Shame is a powerful, sometimes debilitating emotion that can cause us to withdraw from others. From my own experience, shame is what kept me from talking about the abuse I suffered as a little girl and finding the help I so desperately needed.

Shame is also what led me to believe that God didn’t love me and that I would never find happiness. This belief led me to think that I didn’t deserve to be happy. Finally, in my late-20s, I began to realize how I was sabotaging my own happiness by being drawn to people who would hurt me.

Most of us have been deeply scarred by shame. Some more than others. Shame can also lead to some devastating self-destructive behavior, such as self-pity, self-hatred, lack of self-confidence, and so on.

This toxic shame becomes the lies we carry around with us everywhere we go, and it creeps into every relationship we have with other people. Consequently, these lies become chains. These chains can then separate us from the love of Christ.

Christ Can Heal His Children

The good news is that, with God’s grace, we can learn how to let go of this type of toxic shame. Our God is a God of restoration and He desires to show us how to replace these lies of shame with His truth and mercy. All we need to do is sincerely turn to Him in prayer.

How do we get these truths to go from our heads to our hearts? As with everything, we look to Scripture for our answer. The Apostle Paul talks a lot about the power of prayer. In Ephesians 1:17, he says that he prays “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him.”

The spirit of wisdom is one that gives us insight. The gift of revelation will help you see like never before—the truth will be unveiled.

By praying that God would give us the gift of wisdom and revelation, we are essentially asking God that all His truth about who He is and who we are in relation to Him will move from our heads and into our hearts. Be patient with yourself, since this will most likely take time and practice.

Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. // Romans 8:38-39

Our wounds and past sins do not separate us from the love God the Father has for us. But, if we allow it, our past can become an obstacle in our love for Him.

Once you welcome God into those deep wounds and ask Him to remove the toxic shame you have been carrying, you will then begin to feel free to accept the love and healing He has for you.

At this point shame will no longer hold you captive.

I don’t pretend to know what type of shame you are carrying. One thing I know for sure is that you matter. Your story matters. Your wounds matter. God wants to come into those places in your heart that shame has taken root and uproot those nasty lies caused by shame.

It is helpful to remember that sometimes our hearts are broken by sinning against Our Lord, ourselves, and others. In His endless mercy and through the Sacrament of Confession, the good Lord brings forgiveness to our broken hearts.

Open your hearts wide and be ready to receive it!

Dear Lord, teach me how to let go of any toxic shame I have been holding on to. Help me to trust in your endless love and mercy. Amen!

 

The Problem with Toxic Shame #BISblog //Click to tweet Twitter

Elza Spaedy
About Elza Spaedy
View other posts from the author

Since her miraculous healing from the painful trauma of sexual abuse, Elza Spaedy has been on fire for the Lord, ready to let Him use her and her story to heal others. In addition to being an author and public speaker, Elza is the Founder and Director of Healed and Restored, a nonprofit she created to help women heal from their deep wounds caused by physical and sexual abuse, including sex trafficking. She’s also the host of the Healed and Restored Podcast. She works as a realtor in the Lake Norman area of North Carolina. Elza loves to entertain and enjoys preparing and sharing a great meal with her family and friends. She has been married to her husband David for over 20 years and they have three children. Desde que encontró la curación transformadora para su profundo trauma de abuso sexual, Elza ha estado en una búsqueda para ayudar a otros sobrevivientes de trauma a encontrar su propia curación profunda que transformará sus vidas y la vida de quienes los rodean. Además de ser autora y oradora pública, Elza es la fundadora y directora de Healed and Restored, una organización sin fines de lucro con sede en Charlotte, Carolina del Norte. Elza nació y se crió en Brasil en una familia numerosa de 11 hijos. Ha estado casada con su esposo David durante 21 años y tienen tres hijos. A Elza le encanta entretener y disfruta preparar y compartir una excelente comida con familiares y amigos. También le gusta viajar, la playa, escribir y leer.

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May 18, 2022 — Elza Spaedy
Tags: Author_ElzaSpaedy BLOG health hope LIVES mercy prayer
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