I love truth, and especially enjoy when it is presented to me through the observable false beliefs in culture - whether that culture is the workplace, society, or church.
For the last several months I've had the emotion of Shame on my mind, which idea was put there by a close friend and probably the Spirit. Since that time I've been able to observe how this emotion is one of the most lethal emotions, if not the most, to our spirits. What is startling to me is how pervasive the emotion is in our culture.
I'm at church and I hear someone say "I don't read my scriptures as often as I should"; "I don't attend the temple as often as I should", "I don't ..." I could go on and on. You get it. Because you've been there. I've been there too. The emotion and gesture may come across as humility, or piety, but I'm coming to realize it's just a weak yielding to Satan's influence.
The reason we are all adherents of the shame syndrome is because it was introduced by Lucifer to the inhabitants of the earth from the very beginning. When innocent and naive Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they were eager to see Father again, until Lucifer intervened and taught them the crafty and false power of shame. You are Naked, he said. Cover yourselves with fig leaves so Father doesn't see your nakedness. The lesson - You are dirty, fallen, a sinner, and should therefore be ashamed of yourself.
What happened? They had been naked in Father's presence before, what's different now that they partook of some fruit? Nothing, but the false belief of Shame that Satan taught. And so, it was passed on to their children until this day. Have you ever caught yourself telling your children "you should be ashamed of yourself for..." or "shame on you!". Whether those words are used or not, we do it all the time in our remarks to others.
I know a man who left his faith because he felt like "God hated" him, because of choices he had made in his life. Who taught him to be ashamed of his choices?
Or consider a time when someone, perhaps a parent, or a teacher thumped their finger on you telling you that you did a bad thing. I think of the Little House on the Prairie that we used to watch growing up, and the naughty child would be shamed in the corner with a dunce cap, or slapped on the wrist with a ruler. Or the "Cone of Shame" from the Disney Film "Up". I'm sorry to say it, but I've been guilty of shaming my own children. Do you ever shake your head at your child or wag your finger, placing the cone of shame, or the dunce cap on them? Satan loves to humiliate, embarass, and control, in order to generate those low emotions of shame so that he can exhibit greater control over us.
I hear in my mind someone saying "But guilt is the emotion that moves someone to repentance!" False! While it may move someone to repent, I would question the sincerity of the repentance, when guilt is the motivator. Are there better motives for repentance than guilt and shame?
In recent months, I've changed my repentance process. Rather than beating myself up and confessing to my Father in Heaven how lousy I am for the choices I make (satan's shame) I simply recognize my sin, and then go into a mode of counseling with Him on how we can make it better. I feel the Savior get involved in the conversation as well, gently encouraging, smiling, and then letting me know He has already taken care of it for me. Now it's up to me to find a way to stop the behavior, and become my true self - And Christ offers to help me with that too. It's a beautiful and powerful process. One more constructive and uplifting than the old one where I railed on myself, thinking Father actually enjoyed it when I did so.
Hymns can be an awesome source of truth, often overlooked for their precious doctrinal gems. One hymn along these doctrinal lines is How Gentle God's Commands.
For the last several months I've had the emotion of Shame on my mind, which idea was put there by a close friend and probably the Spirit. Since that time I've been able to observe how this emotion is one of the most lethal emotions, if not the most, to our spirits. What is startling to me is how pervasive the emotion is in our culture.
I'm at church and I hear someone say "I don't read my scriptures as often as I should"; "I don't attend the temple as often as I should", "I don't ..." I could go on and on. You get it. Because you've been there. I've been there too. The emotion and gesture may come across as humility, or piety, but I'm coming to realize it's just a weak yielding to Satan's influence.
The reason we are all adherents of the shame syndrome is because it was introduced by Lucifer to the inhabitants of the earth from the very beginning. When innocent and naive Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they were eager to see Father again, until Lucifer intervened and taught them the crafty and false power of shame. You are Naked, he said. Cover yourselves with fig leaves so Father doesn't see your nakedness. The lesson - You are dirty, fallen, a sinner, and should therefore be ashamed of yourself.
What happened? They had been naked in Father's presence before, what's different now that they partook of some fruit? Nothing, but the false belief of Shame that Satan taught. And so, it was passed on to their children until this day. Have you ever caught yourself telling your children "you should be ashamed of yourself for..." or "shame on you!". Whether those words are used or not, we do it all the time in our remarks to others.
I know a man who left his faith because he felt like "God hated" him, because of choices he had made in his life. Who taught him to be ashamed of his choices?
Or consider a time when someone, perhaps a parent, or a teacher thumped their finger on you telling you that you did a bad thing. I think of the Little House on the Prairie that we used to watch growing up, and the naughty child would be shamed in the corner with a dunce cap, or slapped on the wrist with a ruler. Or the "Cone of Shame" from the Disney Film "Up". I'm sorry to say it, but I've been guilty of shaming my own children. Do you ever shake your head at your child or wag your finger, placing the cone of shame, or the dunce cap on them? Satan loves to humiliate, embarass, and control, in order to generate those low emotions of shame so that he can exhibit greater control over us.
I hear in my mind someone saying "But guilt is the emotion that moves someone to repentance!" False! While it may move someone to repent, I would question the sincerity of the repentance, when guilt is the motivator. Are there better motives for repentance than guilt and shame?
In recent months, I've changed my repentance process. Rather than beating myself up and confessing to my Father in Heaven how lousy I am for the choices I make (satan's shame) I simply recognize my sin, and then go into a mode of counseling with Him on how we can make it better. I feel the Savior get involved in the conversation as well, gently encouraging, smiling, and then letting me know He has already taken care of it for me. Now it's up to me to find a way to stop the behavior, and become my true self - And Christ offers to help me with that too. It's a beautiful and powerful process. One more constructive and uplifting than the old one where I railed on myself, thinking Father actually enjoyed it when I did so.Hymns can be an awesome source of truth, often overlooked for their precious doctrinal gems. One hymn along these doctrinal lines is How Gentle God's Commands.
Thank you for your stand on the truth that sets one free. I find the easiest way to know the voices that are all around is to become acquainted with the "fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5: 22-26) verses the "lusts of the flesh."
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written and thought out. I remember the days of having young children who wouldn't behave how I wanted. People would act like it was my fault and I would feel ashamed. I have a son who is getting married and I want him to separate out his child's behavior from himself. To just love the child and do his best to prevent/shorten bad behavior. No matter what people think of you as a parent (they almost never have toddlers around themselves), you can be content (even if exhausted) knowing they are a child of God and this is part of the process.
ReplyDelete