Truth and Shame

There's this fellow that I've known for quite some time now. He has quite the captivating and convincing manner about him. His gift of persuasion is un-parallel. The problem is, every time I hang out with him, he makes me feel worthless. He's quite the popular fellow, and you have probably met him on several occasions as well. His name is Shame.

Now like a lot of good friends, Shame enjoys coming around whether I feel bad or good. Except, he's never there to encourage me. He likes to bring up things in my recent and far past. He likes to remind me of failures, and never seems to let the little things go.

There's another fellow I know as well, his name is Truth. It's ironic how Truth and Shame often agree about what I have done, but they still don't see eye to eye. Both Truth and Shame tell me that I've done a lot wrong. Shame tells me I should hide, that I should avoid people and friends because I'll only embarrass myself.

Truth on the other hand, tells me that I have a bright future. He tells me of a beautiful friend that he has named Mercy. He said she's so giving and loving and that she'll introduce me to her other friends: Forgiveness, Joy, and Laughter.

For years, I ignored Truth. Shame would always whisper about Truth. He said Truth is lying, that Truth really has no friends, and that everything he's offering is fake. I believed Shame for a while; I listened as he told me that I'm worthless, that my name is mud, that God is mad at me and I should just go quietly through life hoping that God doesn't strike me with a cosmic lightning bolt.

One day though, I listened to Truth. The more I listened to Truth, the smaller and quieter Shame became. After a few hours, Shame was jumping up and down desperately screaming; but it was about as loud as a flea's scream. Shortly after, Shame completely disappeared, and Truth was larger, stronger, and more beautiful than he had ever seemed to me. Truth told me that a couple of God's best friends (Mercy and Forgiveness), had the ability to wipe God's memory of every bit of wrong that I have ever done. He said that the worse and darker my past was, the bigger God would make Mercy and Forgiveness so that they could completely destroy the memory of it. I followed Truth and met his friends; and it has been beautiful ever since.

I wrote a letter to Shame and let him know that I won't be needing his friendship any more. I let him know about my many new friends: Mercy, Grace, Joy, Laughter, Forgiveness, Hope, Peace, and Love. Shame still knocks on my door. There's even been a time or two that I've let him in (and I've found the more I let him in, the more often he comes around). But, whenever I come to my senses, all I have to do is call Truth.

Truth always reminds Shame and I of a reality that is far above and far more important than what we can see and touch. In this reality, both Truth and Mercy always prevail over Shame.