Shame

And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. Genesis 1:25

. . . God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” The man said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
Genesis 3:9-10

A lot sure changed in a few verses. With the coming of sin came the opportunity for shame. We are no longer comfortable being “naked and not ashamed.” Even the use of these words makes us uncomfortable because we get hung up with the word “naked.” The fact that we get hung up with this world reminds of how much life has changed since Genesis 1 & 2. Even the gift of sexuality has been distorted due to our choice to sin.

We hide from God. We do what we know to be impossible. We are so uncomfortable in our own skin, we actually believe we can go somewhere where God cannot see us. And as we stand before our Creator, the one who breathed life into us, we feel shame.

What is shame? David Wilkinson defines it this way, shame is “that sense of unease with yourself at the heart of your being. Not being able to be comfortable with yourself as you are, and therefore not being comfortable in the presence of another.” (The Message of Genesis 1-11, p. 87)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it like this,

When one accepts the other as the companion given to him by God, where he is content with understanding himself as beginning from and ending in the other and in belonging to him, man is not unashamed. In the unity of unbroken obedience man is naked in the presence of man, uncovered, revealing both body and soul, and yet is not ashamed. Shame
only comes into existence in the world of division. (Creation and Fall, Augsburg Fortress, 2007, p. 63)

Shame was never God’s intent. This was an experience He did not desire us to have. But we do as a result of sin.

Think of all the ways we try and cover ourselves so that others do not see us. We close the door to new relationships, to growing in our current relationships. We act like someone we think others want us to be. We are hesitant to really “be ourselves,” because we fear rejection. We hide.

You are sinful BUT you are forgiven.
You are ugly, but God has made you beautiful.
You are far from perfect, but God sees you through Christ as perfect.
You deserve condemnation, but you receive a party thrown by God.
You are hopeless, but through Christ we can be filled with hope.
You are broken but Christ has made you new.
You walked away from home and took the inheritance, but God the Father has come and brought you back and thrown a welcome home party.
You are not you until you are in Christ.

Do not hide from God. Do not hide from others. Be naked and not ashamed for your identity is found in Him.