defines, exposes, and remedies the attitudes and scars of shame running through every person's life, I've never considered 'shame' to be a serious issue for the American church to grapple with, The subject seems to me more relevant for Asian and perhaps European cultures, but not something to notice amongst Americans, I was wrong. Welch's definition and counsel make this book among essential readings for today's Christians, Feel trapped by your life's circumstances
Wished you had a perfect white picket fence life
Truth is that many people don't have those perfect lives and reading the bible, we see that following and having faith in God, isn't about having a perfect life, but instead, we see both in the Old and New Testament, a reminder of how imperfect and broken people we all are, with stories that some of us may never be aware of, and yet, what God shows, is that He doesn't look for perfection and instead shows over and over that no matter what our backstory is, we can be used for His glory and we can move beyond what we feel are anchors in our lives.
Look at the story we all know, Adam and Eve, look at Noah's drunkenness, look at Moses self doubt, the bible is filled with imperfect, people who made bad choices and yet God showed that we are still worthy in His eyes and possible to be used.
Maybe not for greatness that will be celebrated in a good way, on the front page news, and as much as we live in a society that expects the worse from everybody and holds their past in forever condemnation, God doesn't and in, "Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection " by Edward T.
Welch, the reader is guided to see how they don't have to feel bounded by whatever chains they carry with them through life, but instead can find, hope, redemption and freedom.
As shared by the publisher,"Welch guides readers on a journey through Scripture to discover the one enduring remedy for shame: the blood of Christ.
By bringing shame into the light, where it can be addressed by the Bible, Welch helps readers to understand and receive the acceptance of God in Christ and experience the relief that comes with freedom from shame.
"
"Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection " does exactly that and this doesn't promise to be a, "read this book and overnight be free" but rather.
. . read this book and take those steps needed,to fully and truly, through Christ, move forward, not backward or chained to the past,
Well written, freeing and compassionate, "Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection " is a great book for those who struggled with feelings of shame and worthlessness.
Great book, lots of good quotes and lots to think about, It was just way too slow for the first third, a lot of repeated and obvious sentences, It only ventured into new and interesting territory aroundof the way through, He has some good insights but his writing style is boring, not in a dry way but in an overly simplistic way,
Still, if youve never encountered some of these concepts before, this book could be eye opening for you, It was helpful for me, A few days ago, I expressed my consternation at people who capriciously assign five star ratings to mediocre books, Upon finishing Shame Interrupted by Ed Welch, I initially felt a little ashamed at wanting to assign it a five, but I really think everyone should read this book.
Welch tackles the issue of shame, which is pervasive in the world and in the church, Welch walks the reader through the origins of shame and a gospel response, I cannot recommend this book highly enough,./. An overall encouraging read. Particularly thankful for the parts about the topsyturvy kingdom of God, in which Jesus honours the weak above the strong and the least above the greatest.
The content of the book, although disjointed and doubtful in parts, meets a crucial heart need: to know one is acknowledged and loved by the One whose love matters most and that He is not ashamed to be associated with us, even when we might sometimes be tempted to be ashamed of Him.
The author does a great job at reinforcing the reality that Jesus is the High Priest that sympathises with us, and He, too, experienced shame and rejection, but came out victorious.
Also, that the apostle Paul models for us the value of boasting in our weakness and relying upon Gods strength amidst lifes challenges,
Probably wouldnt read from cover to cover again, but definitely left earmarks in the sections which left the deepest impressions on me, which Im sure Ill need to return to.
One of the great contrasts between prefall man and postfall man is the presence of shame, Before the fall we are told in Genesis that the man and the woman were naked and not ashamed, After the fall they realize they are naked and they try to hide themselves, The curse of sin is experienced in our relationships in the form of shame that seeks to hide from God and others and seeks to protect itself from all invaders.
We cant let people know us, If they know us they will not like us and will reject us, Welch does an excellent job in showing us how shame is experienced in our lives and how to deal with it, Dealing with the implications and applications of situations of uncleanness in Leviticus, Welch interprets these in terms of how we experience the shame that comes with the curse of sin and how God has provided a way to deal with the shame in our lives.
I am particularly fond of the fact that Welch doesnt leave this problem that results from social interaction to be dealt with by the individual in insolation.
Healing comes, not by avoiding relationships but through relationships, particularly relationships within the church, We need others to help us to work through the shame, More particularly we need the church, God speaks his healing words to us through the word taught, baptism, and the Supper, While Welch recognizes the complexities that come with the problem of shame, he offers the simple though not easy biblical solution: we must learn to live by how God defines us and not by how we want to define ourselves or how others have defined us through words or deeds.
As with all books, there are quibbles here and there, but they are not worth mentioning, Overall, I highly recommend this book for all Christians who are dealing with the problem of shame in their own lives or in the lives of those with whom they are in relationship.
I can also recommend it for those who are nonChristians because Welch explains how the gospel is the answer to the issue of the shame that each of us carries.
Excellent book on how a believer confronts shame, I'm not exactly sure why I picked this book up, because I don't have what I would call a particular problem with feeling shame.
But I am glad. Being called to look at our blessed hope and confronted with a need for constant confession and reliance on Christ is a need for all believers.
If you ave a problem, past or present, with shame or don't really think it is a problem, I recommend this as a way to strengthen your focus on Christ and what He has done for you.
Wow! This book was so good, I always thought if I experienced any shame then surely it meant there was something I needed to repent of, There shouldnt be any shame in Christ, right,
I learned through the scriptures on different types of shame and how to go about it, It was so good to understand better a daily struggle for so many including myself!
Definitely recommend, An excellent book on the experience of shame and the Christian life, Welch's emphasis is on how the Bible addresses shame of all kinds, A great resource for people who feel shame in their own lives, but also a great resource of pastoral counseling, Shame can be a pervasively bodymind phenomenon if we allow it to go that far into us, It can cripple us emotionally,
The force of stark and shameful, or just plain embarrassingly painful circumstance can PUSH us into a veritable Slough of Despond,
And theth century writer John Bunyan said that many of those among us find it hard to escape from that Slough, and its monstrous child, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, once weve sunk into its endless marshy gloom.
So what do we do when the Curse of Humbling Shame pushes down on us
Push back up, with equivalent force of character!
Welch is right.
We have to break down the Curse that pushes us ever downward, by totally BEARING the brute strength of our oppressive pain as Jesus did and in turn harvesting its strength through an attitude of ultimate seriousness.
You see, pain is universal, Its everywhere.
And its what makes us real,
Pleasure softens reality, Its a drug. But pain IS reality, and if borne properly, can give our life true SUBSTANCE,
Its like Ancient Greek temple statuary, . .
We have to push up on that upper cornice with the blunt strength of an immovable object of statuary and Faith helps us do that.
No, I dont mean like Beethoven is said to have done, shaking his pained fist in extremis upon his deathbed upwards at the stormy heavens.
. .
No but by just breaking down our pain into its root in universal pain, we will begin to see that the worlds towering rage will gradually be defused.
Our shame may turn us into broken people, but we in turn can say to all our broken friends, “You know, it seems like were finished but were all living in a badly broken world! And were ALL just making othe best of a bad situation!”
And all the bad
guys are thrown into this leaky lifeboat with the good.
But they totally lack flexibility, because they just deflect their pain into their unwitting victims in temperamental power games,
And left alone, they sink faster,
And you know what Yeats said about coming to the end of your rope in the presence of your tormentors Listen, for it all comes out in the wash:
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress.
Sink or sing,
Yes just in praising our Creator and singing more raucously for every tatter in our mortal dress, thatll do it!
Because were all now in the same boat, and MUST make the Best out of a Totally Bad Situation.
Like COVID. Were all sitting ducks.
But THAT is where our Hope lies, For we will never SEE God in this life but we can stand up and Sing in faith, and Praise Him, The meek will inherit a new heaven and a new earth,
Most of us by now have had it, of course, in this brainy technological age with our lost gods of power,
And their tooeasy solutions,
As some politicians take easy refuge in irrationality, so we too turn too to our primitively aggressive roots for release, . .
Dont go there,
Surely we dont want to carry our debt load further! Isnt this poor life enough Why listen to that pained little voice inside our heads weighing against our last hope without pause For, as our better self sings.
. .
Boy, youre gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight
Such a Long Time,
Look weve only got to break down the word suffer, What does it mean once its split apart
Get this!
“SUFFER” is derived from its roots SOUFER, Bear UP underneath the pain,
And THATs what we have to do to keep on going, on a full head of steam! So first of all, Welch says, we must KNOW our pains causes clearly.
Then we have to learn to objectively bear push up with an equivalent force of a Greek Dyad into that Low Ceiling of Chronic Anxiety.
With all the strength of our Life Force,
It works for me, And it can work for You, Too, . .
Reasoning our problems out works wonders,
None of us is perfect, Were all in the same boat,
But we can just KEEP ON TRYING, And singing.
And this book can help us do just that, .