Shame off you! - Week One
Welcome to Week 1 of our “Unashamed” book study! So very happy to have you here. Thank you for taking this journey with us. We thank God in advance for all the Healing and Freedom and Revelation and Privilege to come before the Lord “Naked and “UNASHAMED”. In Jesus' Name. Amen. Now let's dig in!
Week One: Chapters 1-3 The Power of Shame. Reaching for Freedom. Chapter 1: Schooled in Shame. Christine Caine opens up her book by sharing her earliest memories of feeling ‘shame’ (intro, pg 9). In Brene Brown’s book “I Thought It Was Just Me”, she states “…I quickly came to believe that the first step in understanding shame is developing a shared vocabulary to communicate our experiences; therefore, my first goal was to develop a definition of shame.” 1. If you could use just ONE word to describe shame, what would that be? 2. What would you say are your earliest memories of shame? (you don’t have to answer this one if you don’t feel comfortable yet) 3. What stood out for you from chapter 1? Other comments insights… Chapter 2: The Power of Shame 1. In this powerful chapter, Christine talks about ‘learning to hide’. She states that, just like Adam and Eve, hiding is our ‘go-to’ coping skill… Too often we don’t recognize our ‘hiding responses’. Have you ever noticed yourself reacting in the same manner in certain situations? What would you say are/were your ‘hiding’ skills?
2. Guilt vs. Shame: Guilt is about my ‘do’. Shame is about my ‘who’
Do you find that you have a lot of trouble believing certain scriptures about who you are?
3. Exposing our shame to light: What ‘actions/reactions’ can you see in yourself that contradicts what you say with what you believe? Is there any area or repeated behavior that may be an indicator to you that there could be some hidden shame there?
Chapter 3: Reaching for Freedom
Oh, how many of us can relate to the woman with the issue of blood! The healing power of God’s love is rich in every verse and response.
“Of all the words Jesus could have spoken to her, he chose as his first word: ‘DAUGHTER’…” 1. Are you able to see yourself as His daughter? 2. Do you know HIM as not just healer, deliverer and savior…but as FATHER?
Is there something that hinders you from believing this aspect of God’s character? Why do you believe grasping this ‘truth’ of being a daughter is so important to our foundational walk with the Lord? Today, bring that 'thing' before the Lord and ask HIM to shine the light of HIS TRUTH in that darkness that He might BREAK OFF THE CHAINS OF SHAME. "Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short.You’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth, and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.For your Maker is your bridegroom, his name, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel, known as God of the whole earth." - Isaiah 54
Would love to hear your insights on these chapters. Would you comment below and tell us how God has spoke to you so far? Next Week's Reading: Chapters 4,5 and 6 See you then!
