One Letter

Finally I admitted all my sins to You and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, "I will confess them to the Lord." And You forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
—Psalms 32:5 TLB

A friend recently forwarded a word challenge. Change one letter in the word below to make it a different word. Not too hard at all. What was interesting was looking at the iterations of words that changed because one letter was changed such as “Shoe – Shot – Soot – Foot – Boot….”
What caught my eye was the word change “Shame – Share”. Easy to change one letter, but what a challenge to turn Shame into Share in real life.
It seems when things go wrong and you mess up, Shame is the first thing you encounter. Shame that you did not rise to the occasion, Shame that you let others down, Shame that you failed to do what was expected. Shame is a powerful foe if left unchecked.


This is where Share comes in to the picture. The antidote to Shame is Share. Just as the antidote to darkness is light, the antidote to infection is cleansing, the antidote to private shame is public acknowledgement.

You see, Shame is not just a personally belittling experience; it is also a challenge to the trust relationships you have in your life because the first act of Shame is to cover up, push it down deep into the basement of your world. Like a hoarder you hang onto the very things God says robs you of the fullness of life and joy. You hang on because you are afraid to confess, embarrassed to tell.
Now try Share. It is a choice to trust…to believe that as the Psalmist says, acknowledging brings healing forgiveness and freedom.

I believe that when we roll up our sleeves and reveal healed scars, we reveal a God who makes us brand new. I believe when we tell friends the truth about regrets, we tell friends about a God who does not condemn. I believe that when we tear off the wrapping paper of hurt, we show the gift of hope inside. I believe in the power of share.
—from Jon Acuff's blog Stuff Christians Like. 

The “r” is the only thing that changes “shame” to “share.” What does it mean to you: Renewed, Redeemed, Reborn, Resurrected?

Help those you serve this day find the power of God’s healing through the gift of your “Sharing”!