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"The result of Adam and Eve’s decision to go against what God saw as good for them was for them to feel guilt and shame. This is something that had never been felt before, but which today is a characteristic of our lives that threatens to control us through victim thinking."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 109.
Shame is such a deadly motivator when combined with victim thinking. Remember, there is a big difference between shame and guilt. Where guilt is the feeling we get when we have done something that disappoints us, shame is believing that what we did defines who we are. Guilt is about the action, shame is about the identity. As I have said over and over again, anything in this world that we allow to shape our identity is a killer to our ability to live the life of a victor. For those of us caught in victim thinking ways, shame can really make it hard to ever see the truth of who we are.
It is really hard being the first at anything. When something has never been done before that first time it is done can often be awkward and filled with missteps. Just think back to that very first time you felt something for someone else and acted upon those feelings. I can guarantee that there were some instances in that situation that you would handle completely different with some experience under your belt.
Adam and Eve were first at everything. They were first at being created, first at communicating with God, first at working, first at having human relationship, first at having children - the list can go on and on. Everything they did had never been done before. When Satan entered the picture and tempted them, they were the first to fall. Falling is something we all have had lots of practice doing since Adam and Eve pioneered the way for us in the area of sin.
Sadly, Adam and Eve were also the first to face the debilitating effects of shame. Shame literally crushed their spirits in a way that we are still feeling the impact of today. When shame crushed Adam and Eve's spirit their souls were the first to pick up where the spirit left off. This has made it so easy for us to do the same and this fact can make it Oh so hard to live the life of a victor as we carry on in the shadow of Adam and Eve's firsts of life. The fact that Adam and Eve let shame influence their identity is a tradition that we have firmly entrenched in our lives as well.
It is when we let shame define who we are that the power of identity is lost in ways Adam and Even were the first to feel. I think this breaks God's heart. He never intended for us to suffer the crushing weight of shame. He knew what that would do to us and I believe He knew what it would do to His relationship with us to boot. God has been doing all He could to get us back into relationship ever since Adam and Eve were launched into their lives of firsts.
The Bible uses the Adam and Eve story a lot from beginning to the end. In fact Adam and Jesus are contrasted and compared in many ways in the Bible. Here's one such example.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45 (NASB)
The last Adam referred to in today's reading is none other than Jesus Himself. Adam is linked to the one who makes it possible for us all to step back into the garden of relationship with God that was forfeited so long ago. God never gives up on any of us and even our wrong turns in life can be used in powerful and eternity filled ways.
The first Adam became a living soul. I think that means that when Adam's spirit was crushed it became as though dead. The soul had to come to life to fill the void left by their crushed spirit. That living soul is alive and well in each and everyone of us in the world today. The second Adam, Jesus, is the life giving spirit needed to breath life back into the spirits of each and everyone of us.
It is when our spirit comes alive and our souls bow down to the power of that spirit that we have the best chance to be all God has called us to be. Please don't mistake that last statement as a guarantee for success in what you are doing in this world. Success isn't part of the criteria God uses when it comes to being the victor He has called us to be.
It is when our souls come under the influence and direction of the spirit that the God part of our being can be directly connected to the world part of our being. That's when God can be seen in and around our lives in ways that literally changes the world. The living soul is no match to the soul empowered by the life of our spirit that is breathed in us by God through Jesus.
The elements that make up your soul, your will, intellect and emotions, are powerful forces to recon with. If all you rely on to make your identity be all it can be in your world is your soul, you will be disappointed in ways that can't help but create victim thinking tendencies. By letting your spirit come alive and empower, encourage and equip your soul things happen in ways where your identity can't help but to be seen and experienced.
If you are using the power of your soul to bolster some identity you want in your life, all I can say is good luck. This is not a unique strategy. Adam and Eve are the founding partners of this technique and it didn't turn out all that well for them. Do you really think this strategy is going to work any better for you?
Take time today to let God speak into your life. The words He will speak will be the breath of life to your spirit that will make your soul's power pale in comparison to what it can be with God in control. He is telling you who you are. You are His Child and that makes you the victor your soul is trying so hard to make you to be. Let God's spirit jump start your spirit in ways that makes your identity as His Child have real meaning in the things that come before you today.
It is really hard being the first at anything. When something has never been done before that first time it is done can often be awkward and filled with missteps. Just think back to that very first time you felt something for someone else and acted upon those feelings. I can guarantee that there were some instances in that situation that you would handle completely different with some experience under your belt.
Adam and Eve were first at everything. They were first at being created, first at communicating with God, first at working, first at having human relationship, first at having children - the list can go on and on. Everything they did had never been done before. When Satan entered the picture and tempted them, they were the first to fall. Falling is something we all have had lots of practice doing since Adam and Eve pioneered the way for us in the area of sin.
Sadly, Adam and Eve were also the first to face the debilitating effects of shame. Shame literally crushed their spirits in a way that we are still feeling the impact of today. When shame crushed Adam and Eve's spirit their souls were the first to pick up where the spirit left off. This has made it so easy for us to do the same and this fact can make it Oh so hard to live the life of a victor as we carry on in the shadow of Adam and Eve's firsts of life. The fact that Adam and Eve let shame influence their identity is a tradition that we have firmly entrenched in our lives as well.
It is when we let shame define who we are that the power of identity is lost in ways Adam and Even were the first to feel. I think this breaks God's heart. He never intended for us to suffer the crushing weight of shame. He knew what that would do to us and I believe He knew what it would do to His relationship with us to boot. God has been doing all He could to get us back into relationship ever since Adam and Eve were launched into their lives of firsts.
The Bible uses the Adam and Eve story a lot from beginning to the end. In fact Adam and Jesus are contrasted and compared in many ways in the Bible. Here's one such example.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45 (NASB)
The last Adam referred to in today's reading is none other than Jesus Himself. Adam is linked to the one who makes it possible for us all to step back into the garden of relationship with God that was forfeited so long ago. God never gives up on any of us and even our wrong turns in life can be used in powerful and eternity filled ways.
The first Adam became a living soul. I think that means that when Adam's spirit was crushed it became as though dead. The soul had to come to life to fill the void left by their crushed spirit. That living soul is alive and well in each and everyone of us in the world today. The second Adam, Jesus, is the life giving spirit needed to breath life back into the spirits of each and everyone of us.
It is when our spirit comes alive and our souls bow down to the power of that spirit that we have the best chance to be all God has called us to be. Please don't mistake that last statement as a guarantee for success in what you are doing in this world. Success isn't part of the criteria God uses when it comes to being the victor He has called us to be.
It is when our souls come under the influence and direction of the spirit that the God part of our being can be directly connected to the world part of our being. That's when God can be seen in and around our lives in ways that literally changes the world. The living soul is no match to the soul empowered by the life of our spirit that is breathed in us by God through Jesus.
The elements that make up your soul, your will, intellect and emotions, are powerful forces to recon with. If all you rely on to make your identity be all it can be in your world is your soul, you will be disappointed in ways that can't help but create victim thinking tendencies. By letting your spirit come alive and empower, encourage and equip your soul things happen in ways where your identity can't help but to be seen and experienced.
If you are using the power of your soul to bolster some identity you want in your life, all I can say is good luck. This is not a unique strategy. Adam and Eve are the founding partners of this technique and it didn't turn out all that well for them. Do you really think this strategy is going to work any better for you?
Take time today to let God speak into your life. The words He will speak will be the breath of life to your spirit that will make your soul's power pale in comparison to what it can be with God in control. He is telling you who you are. You are His Child and that makes you the victor your soul is trying so hard to make you to be. Let God's spirit jump start your spirit in ways that makes your identity as His Child have real meaning in the things that come before you today.
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