Shame is a powerful and damaging emotion. Have you ever felt shame or disgrace? Have you ever been ashamed of someone else? People can be ashamed of their appearance, social status, or family heritage—anything they feel is unacceptable or unattractive. Shame is what we feel when we think something about ourselves does not measure up to the expectations of others. In today’s devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef draws from Paul’s warning to Timothy to remind us of the power of shame and how to combat it.
If you would like more insight into today’s devotional topic, listen to Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon, Don’t Ever Give Up, Part 2: LISTEN NOW
[00:00:00] You're listening to MY Devotional, the Daily Devotional from Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading The Way.
[00:00:08] No Shame, my Dr. Michael Youssef. Shame is a powerful, endamaging emotion. Have you ever felt shame or disgrace? Have you ever been ashamed of someone else?
[00:00:22] People can be ashamed of their appearance, their social status or their family heritage. Anything that they feel is unacceptable or unattractive.
[00:00:32] Shame is what we feel when we think that something about ourselves does not measure up to the expectation of others.
[00:00:41] We're to shame come from. It is the child of fear and the cousin of timidity.
[00:00:47] In Second Timothy, Chapter 1, Paul warns Timothy about shame.
[00:00:53] Fear and shame are closely related. When we fear what others think of us, we feel ashamed and attempt to hide our faults from them.
[00:01:01] Unfortunately, many Christians have allowed the world to shame them into hiding the gospel. They feel ashamed of biblical morality and of God's standards.
[00:01:10] Paul encourages Timothy, so do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me as prisoner rather join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
[00:01:24] A Second Timothy, 1.8
[00:01:26] No matter what we face, God's power is with us. Even in the face of death, we shouldn't let fear trap us.
[00:01:34] When Jesus died on the cross, he not only abolished death for his followers, he also abolished the fear of death.
[00:01:42] While we will all experience physical death, those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior have the joy of anticipating eternal life with Jesus.
[00:01:52] We should feel honored to endure hardships for Christ even death.
[00:01:57] First Peter 4, 16 says, If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed but praise God that you bear that name.
[00:02:07] Let's pray together. Father help us not to be ashamed of the gospel. May we remember that we are yours even in death.
[00:02:15] We pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
[00:02:19] Today, reflect on Romans chapter 1 verse 16, which reads,
[00:02:25] For I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
[00:02:37] If today's devotional encouraged you, we'd love to hear about it.
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[00:02:46] My devotional is a ministry of leading the way with Dr. Michael Yusse.
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