Scripture: Zephaniah 3:19
I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
Thought for the Day: Shame is not always a bad thing. In fact, our culture needs a little dose of shame now and then as I think it can lead to repentance and change. But too often the only ones who know shame are those who do not need to be ashamed. It is the judgments of an insecure culture that have left those on the receiving end of that judgment feeling ashamed. The prophet Zephaniah recognizes the movement of God toward a day when those who should never have felt a bit of shame, yet have been beaten into a state of disgrace by an intolerant loathing, shall find their circumstances transformed. Let those of us who believe in such a day give witness to our sisters and brothers who desperately need a new perspective of self…the perspective God has. Let us do our best to make today a day when people’s sense of shame is transformed into praise.
Prayer: Too many people feel ashamed for things that are not worthy of shame. God, grant us all a vision of your redeeming love that saves both the one who feels ashamed, but does not have reason, as well as the one who should feel ashamed for creating the circumstance by which shame was imposed. Amen.
