Desperate Joy

  Photo by Julia Taubitz on Unsplash One of Satan's most powerful and frightening weapons is toxic shame. He sneaks into the deepest parts of our hearts and minds and uses it to cripples us. He makes us believe that our enemies are friends, and our friends are enemies. Toxic shame makes us doubt our own goodness and value and makes us believe that the best thing we can do is to destroy ourselves. It is the driving force behind depression, addiction, self-mutilation, eating disorders and myriad other issues. It was this toxic shame that Satan used to try to overthrow the Lord Jesus Christ when he faced his temptation in the wilderness. Matthew 4:3 records this, "...If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."   And again, in verse 6, "And said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down...'"   In two out of three temptations Satan attacked Christ with the phrase, "If you are the Son of God..."   ...

  Photo by @felipepelaquim on Unsplash The idea of shame has fallen on tough times in recent years. In most conversations on the topic, shame is almost universally regarded as a bad thing, as if it is an emotional cancer or virus that needs to be eradicated. As I have discussed in previous posts, I do not believe that shame is necessarily a bad thing. It can be a sort of warning light that lets us know when have stepped into the dark. It is a sign that we are created in the image of God and our moral compass is properly aligned. It helps us to know our attitudes, beliefs and behaviors are tuned correctly. It is an alarm that lets us know when we are in danger of harming our connection with those closest to us and society as a whole. Think about it like this: what if we had no shame? What would happen if we were completely shameless? How does a shameless person behave? He would have no respect or regard for himself or others. He would use and abuse anyone or anything in order t...