Shame Doesn’t Look Good On You

🎶 Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the Light of His glory and grace. 🎶
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, a hymn written by Helen Lemmel

Psalm 34 steps in to teach and to validate the same lesson as we receive in this hymn. If we will fix our gaze upon Jesus, the shame we carry has to flee. Shame doesn’t exist in God’s presence. For in His presence we recognize who He is and who we are as His creation. The truth of it is all here in His presence. And yet we have free will to focus on Him or to fix our gaze on the tangible things of earth.

”I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.“
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It sounds too easy, and it is, in a sense. It’s as easy as making a choice; a choice to stop hiding from God and stop stuffing our pain, shame and grief. But it’s also as difficult as turning from my will to His will. As difficult as squelching my natural selfish desires, and developing a good practice. It is true that honing a healthy habit takes time and perseverance.

God makes it easy for us. In fact, He will do the hardest parts of healing for us. But our fallen nature and broken flesh tends to look inward for solutions. We tend to still believe the subtle delusions of the evil one and doubt the goodness of God. We tend to think (because of shame) that we have to work our way out of shame. This stinkin’ thinkin’ causes us to dig in our heels, grit our teeth and determine to work harder to free ourselves from a pit that (because of shame) we keep digging deeper.

It’s in these difficult and dark life moments that I am so thankful for the way God calls to me in a variety of ways and through a variety of people and media. Just lately I have experienced His repeated invitation to look up through His word in the Bible, through devotionals such as the snippet(1) I’ve included below, and via the above hymn. Sometimes He reminds me to look up through the voice of a friend in conversation, and other times it’s by way of the sun shining on the mountains near our home.

I have occasionally, this spring, shifted my gaze upward toward the sound of baby birds squawking, only to delight in watching the momma bird flying in and out of her nest, gathering food, and feeding her babies. In this moment, the Holy Spirit brings forward to remembrance God’s words of promise to care for His own.

*Are you not much more valuable to your Father?*

The truth reverberates around us in hundreds of messages, visuals, and prompts because God so wants to catch our eye. Jesus wants us to look up and realize we can’t work our way out of the pit. We have to hold our hands up, and wave the white flag of surrender to God. As scripture teaches us we have to fix our eyes on Him. I must stand down and let Him lead me into freedom.

”fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.“
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Here’s the really good news. Jesus accomplished the victory already. He is walking with you. He is walking with me. He’s waiting for us to look to Him, and recognize His very real presence. Shame was already defeated, and so, as a child of God shame doesn’t look good on you or me. Shame doesn’t belong in God’s Kingdom. It’s not a part of our true identity.

Jesus pioneered the pathway to freedom. He is our example and He’s ready to teach us how to live shame-free.

What do you say? Will you turn your eyes upon Jesus and look full into His wonderful face? Will you ask Him to remove all remnants of shame that you might be carrying? Will you fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, and follow Him toward the finish line?