“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines 
the course of your life.” ~ Proverbs 4:23

“Matters of the Heart” is a weekly blog that deals with the deepest issues of the human heart, the issues we all face but sometimes don’t want to talk about. The heart is the programming center of our lives. What is programmed into our heart will affect every area of our lives. Learn how to examine your heart and how to program your heart for success.

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Shame is to the heart as chains are to the body. 

Shame keeps us bound. It keeps us a prisoner of the lies that caused our shame.

Most, if not all, of us have experienced shame in one way or another.

I come from a very poor family of eight children. Were it not for the generosity of the nuns at the Catholic school I attended, we would have often gone to bed hungry. Yet, as I carried home on the schoolbus the large shopping bag filled with the nuns’ pungent egg salad sandwiches left over from their lunch, I felt shame. Shame because the other kids on the bus not only knew what I was carrying, but also why. Shame because I believed the lie that poor people were inferior. 

What is shame and where does it come from?

Shame is the lie that says you’re not good enough. While guilt says I MADE a mistake, shame says I AM a mistake.  

Shame comes from negative words spoken to us as a children—words that wounded our hearts. 

• “You’ll never amount to anything.” 
• “You’re so clumsy!”
• “You’re stupid.”
• “You’re fat.”
• “You’re poor.”
• “No one will ever love you.”
• “I wish I never had you!”
• “You were an accident.”
• “You’re ugly.”
• ‘You’re (fill in the blank).”

Shame comes from experiences that caused us to believe we fell short of the expected mark.

Shame comes straight from the pit of hell.

Has your life been filled with shame?  If so, read these words the Lord wrote just for you: “Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance” (Isaiah 61: 7).

My Prayer for You Today: “May God break the chains of shame off your life. May He take the shame of your life and turn it into the strength of your life.”

Now, it’s YOUR turn: How have you dealt with shame in your life? Please leave your valued comment in the box below.

TWEETABLE:  “THE LYING VOICE OF SHAME” by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio (CLICK TO TWEET).

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RESOURCES TO HELP YOU OVERCOME SHAME:

NEW YOU-TUBE SERIES:  Check out my new You-Tube series, YOU WERE MADE FOR GREATNESS!, based on my popular book by the same title.