Lies and shame

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

-Ephesians 5:8a, NIV

I believe a lie is always present when it comes to shame. Either we are being lied to, or we are living a lie.

God did not design us to live in the darkness doing the deeds of the darkness. Yet that is our original state in this sin torn world. In a sense, we are living a lie as long as we live in the darkness.

Cheaters embrace this lie.

They have no trouble or issue with living in the darkness. It is their preferred state. Such ought to invoke shame in them. However, they are shameless.

A spiritually healthy person would recognize this state as problematic. They would not want to feel the shame of living in the lie. Such a person would take strides to repent and escape a life lived in the fruitless deeds of darkness.

However, cheaters are not spiritually healthy individuals.

Many will never leave behind their wickedness. They have no healthy shame. There is not enough discomfort with their behavior and what that is making of them for them to change.

That is a problem.

Shame in this sense is a gift as it pushes the willing towards our true identity as sons and daughters choosing to walk in the light.

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*A version of this post ran previously.