Category Archives: Humiliation

Ashamed, Attacks, Bible, Embarrassment, Humiliation, Scripture

NOT ASHAMED

ROMANS 1:16

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Shame and condemnation are methods the devil uses to try to discourage and discredit us. You’re not worthy! Look at all the bad stuff you’ve done. God can’t forgive you! Those are just a few of the things he might say. Shame has no place in the life of the believer, either shame dumped on us by others (or the devil) or shame we put on ourselves. Paul talks about another kind of shame, however, in today’s verse. Let’s see what he says.

Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” Why in the world would he say that? Well, just think about his life. He had been a Pharisee, a keeper of the law. Now he is proclaiming salvation in Jesus alone. All those Jewish leaders he knew were shaming him, even attacking him. They probably said he had lost it, had gone crazy and was even denying his faith. Shame, shame, shame! But Paul was brave and courageous and refused that shame. He was speaking the truth and seeing lives changed.

APPLICATION

The word for “ashamed” is used eleven times in the New Testament. Six of those times it is used in the negative as to “not be ashamed” as it is here in today’s verse. But in Mark 8:38 (and the parallel verses in Luke 9:26) Jesus warns us of being ashamed of Him or His words. “‘For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.’” Now, who wants to face that? I sure don’t. I want to hear those precious words, Well done, my good and faithful servant.

Paul tells Timothy to “not be ashamed” in 2 Timothy 1:8. “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,…” And he says he is not ashamed in verse 12 of the same chapter. “For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” There’s a little song that goes with that verse. Remember it – “For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able,…”

Paul praises a believer named Onesiphorus 2 Timothy 1:16-18 for not being ashamed. “16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— 18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.” Don’t you want to hear those words said about you? Live unashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Live so that you will not be ashamed at His coming!

Lord, I am not ashamed of being called Your child and of placing my faith in You. You are my life.

If the Lord should lead you to support our ministry, check out our ministry page at Trans World Radio (www.twr.org/carl-willis). 

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Abiding, Bible, Blessing, Doubts, Encouragement, Following, Humiliation, Scripture

I’M DONE WITH GOD

MALACHI 3:14

“‘You have said, “It is pointless to serve God; and what benefit is it for us that we have done what He required, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of armies?”’”

There have been times in my life when I have felt totally inept. Everything I did seemed to fall apart. Indeed, it felt pointless to continue to try to do the thing I was attempting. Failure was assured. I can remember one football game in high school when we were losing in the fourth quarter. The coach called a timeout and gave us a pep talk. It was simple – play til the clock hits 0:00. We felt like zeroes.

In today’s verse, the Lord is reminding the people what they had been saying about following Him. They saw the faithful still suffering in poverty. They had decided it was better to not obey since obedience only brought sorrow. Serving Jehovah seemed useless. They had rather reap the benefits of the world than wallow in the pits.

APPLICATION

Oh, but they were forgetting one important thing. This world is not our home. The things we obtain here are only temporal. They will not last. The faithful realized that. They were not obeying God to get things down here. They were laying up treasure in heaven, where neither moths nor rust can destroy.

In 1 Corinthians 15:19 Paul says, “If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are of all people most to be pitied.” How true! If my walk with Christ was dependent on what God gives me down here, I would have long ago left the path. It is not about that. He does bless us down here, though. I have been blessed in so many ways. But I do not and cannot live for those things.

Neither can you. Follow Christ out of joy. Follow Christ because of how much He loves you. Follow Christ because the promise we have in heaven. Follow Christ because ________________ (you fill in the blank). We all need to remember why we are serving Him here. We serve Him for what is coming. Praise God!

Lord, I love You and want to show You by serving You here on this earth. I look forward to my heavenly rewards.

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Abuse, Bible, Confrontation, Enemies, Harm, Humiliation, Insults, Mockery, Ransom, Salvation, Scripture

WHAT AN INSULT!

ZECHARIAH 11:12

“And I said to them, ‘If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!’ So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages.”

Have you ever been truly insulted? It is not a good feeling. It’s embarrassing and humiliating. If it is done in front of others, that insult is magnified. That probably happened to me the last time while I was working with a fellow who disliked me because of my ministry. He called me a rather nasty name right in the middle of a staff meeting.

In today’s verse, we find Zechariah writing about his proposed wages from those he asked it – thirty shekels of silver. What you may not know is the standard price for a good servant was twice that. This price of thirty was what was paid for a servant that had been gored by an ox (see Exodus 21:32) and was therefore damaged goods. But you must remember that Zechariah was acting on behalf of Jehovah. The people were spurning God, not just Zechariah.

APPLICATION

Before Christ, we were all guilty of spurning God. We figuratively spit in His face and refused the gift He offered us in His Son, Jesus Christ. But after we become believers, we see the value of the gift. We offer all we have to be one with Him. I am reminded of Matthew 13:45-46. “45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold everything that he had and bought it.’”

What price can you place on your gift of salvation? If we don’t offer Him everything, we are insulting the God of creation. We are saying we don’t value His gift to us. He laid down His life in the form of Jesus. He shed divine blood for us. He suffered and bled for all mankind. Why would we not give Him everything?

I can’t think of a single thing right now in my life that I place above that. I couldn’t have always said that. In the past I took my salvation for granted. I made it look cheap. Not now! I see its value in my life. Can you say the same? Is it worth everything to you? Lay it all down at His feet and watch what He does with it. I won’t spoil the surprise!

O Lord, my God, You are so good to me. I praise You for paying the ultimate price for my salvation.

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Bible, Conceit, Embarrassment, God's Will, Humiliation, Laughter, Scripture

WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?

HABAKKUK 1:10

“They make fun of kings, and dignitaries are an object of laughter to them. They laugh at every fortress, then heap up dirt and capture it.”

There is not anything funny about getting laughed at. Has that ever happened to you? It makes you feel small and invaluable. The ones who are laughing at you think they are better than you. Bullies love to laugh at others. Don’t be a bully. Don’t laugh at others. Laugh with them – not at them.

God is describing the Chaldeans here in verse 10 as bullies. They laugh at the kings they have defeated. They make sport of them. They look at their fortresses and act like the Big Bad Wolf, declaring they will huff and puff and blow their house down. Unfortunately for Israel, they could back up their boasting. Israel would be judged by these braggarts.

APPLICATION

Who are you laughing at? Who are you making fun of? Why? There is never a good reason to laugh and make fun of someone in order to humiliate them or shame them. I love a good laugh as much as the rest, but it must be a laugh that is welcomed and reciprocated.

The words used here for “make fun,” “laughter” and “laugh” have nothing to do with being funny. They all refer to scoffing and deriding. They are used in a negative manner each time. That is not the kind of laughter the Lord intends. He tells us in Proverbs 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” God wants us to laugh, just not at others.

I picture God as having a great sense of humor. I am not trying to be sacrilegious. I mean just look at some of the animals He created. They are hilarious. The duck-billed platypus? Come one! And the giraffe is crazy. It looks like God just stretched the neck out. So, laugh appropriately. Enjoy a good laugh. Only don’t do it at the expense of someone else.

Lord, Your Word says a merry heart has a continual feast (Proverbs 15:15). I want that.  

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Accountability, Bible, Embarrassment, Humiliation, Scripture

SKIRT OVER YOUR FACE

NAHUM 3:5

“‘Behold, I am against you,’ declares the LORD of armies; ‘And I will lift up your skirts over your face, and show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.’”

I had a boss once who used to say, “Don’t pull your gown over your head.” That meant don’t go and humiliate yourself. I wonder if he got that saying from this verse. We never want to be humiliated, do we? Whether someone else does it to you or you do it to yourself, it is never comfortable.

God is speaking in verse 5 to Nineveh through Nahum. He says He is about to embarrass them. He will reveal them to the nations. He will “show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame.” All exposed. All revealed. Nothing hidden.

APPLICATION

How do we keep from being embarrassed over our actions? We walk in godliness. Peter gave us some great guidelines in the last chapter of his second letter. 2 Peter 4:14 reads, “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him.” Wise words.

Peter said something similar in the first chapter of this same letter. 2 Peter 1:3 says “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (NIV). If we live how Peter instructs us, we will have fewer embarrassing moments.

I do not want to have to explain myself to Jesus. I want to live my life pleasing to Him at all times. Do I do that? Of course, not. No one does. But I am striving every day to relinquish my will and embrace His. Will you? Will you give up your pride and live for Him?

Lord, I want to hear You say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” I want to honor You in all my actions.

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