No matter how hard you try to hide them, social media likes to point out all our mistakes for the world to see. Someone videotaped your outburst or recorded your fall. Next thing you know, it’s gone viral on TikTok or has a million hits on Instagram.
BuzzFeed has a headline that reads, “21 Wild Celebrity Fails from This Past Year.” YouTube has another that reads, “Biggest Mistakes Made on Live TV.” Entrepreneur’s article title reads, “10 Stupid Mistakes Smart People Make.” Seriously, google “Stupid Mistakes” and see how many articles pop up. It’s sickening.
Shame Shows Up
It’s no wonder when we make mistakes, Shame shows up to rub it in. She slanders your character, “You’re worthless and will never amount to anything.” We believe her lies. She’s good too. I can still hear her voice ringing in my ears from when she yelled, “Look what you’ve done,” last spring when I let my checking account fall into NSF status and had to pay penalties. Or how about the time when my husband and I didn’t communicate well and left our 7-year-old daughter at ballet class an extra hour before we realized neither of us picked her up? Or how about the time…I could go on and on, but really, is this necessary?
We’ve all made mistakes and we will continue to make them. It’s part of being human. None of us are perfect. No one is exempt. I know I’ve made my fair share. Maybe more than others.
Don’t allow Shame to encourage you to be like her. When you see others fail, don’t be quick to judge. Instead of yelling, “Look what you’ve done,” with your pointing finger and accusatory stares, why not try uplifting words of encouragement?
Only Jesus
Instead of hanging out with Shame and allowing her to introduce you to Deceit, Self-Pity, or even Retaliation, give your mistakes to Jesus. Grow from them. Laugh at yourself and who cares what the world thinks? Because the only opinion that matters is that of Jesus!
When we stand before Him with all our mistakes in hand and surrender, He heals. He digs up all the roots of the lies we believe and reseeds with Truth. We can now look up at Jesus and say, “Look what You’ve done!”
Tasha Layton says it best in her song, “Look What You’ve Done.”
Check out her lyrics!
Look how You made me new
The enemy did everything that he could do
Oh, but look what You’ve done
Suddenly all the shame is gone
I thought I was too broken, now I see
You were breaking new ground inside of me
Standing in Your presence, Lord
I can feel You diggin’ all my roots up
I feel Ya healin’ all my wounds up
All I can say is hallelujah
Look what You’ve done
Look what You’ve done in me
You spoke Your truth into the lies I let my heart believe
Look at me now
Look how You made me new
The enemy did everything that he could do
Oh, but look what You’ve done
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