Creflo Dollar — Defeating Shame with Praise
Shame is a weapon used to sabotage your future. Shame is like a rope tied to something in your past and you just can't let it go. It's a weight that weighs you down.
Shame will move you out of the call of God for your life, it'll move you away from the place that God's called you to. And that's why the enemy tries so diligently to try to get you to walk in shame, so he can stop you from accomplishing the very purpose for you being here on this planet.
Shame wants to move you out of the position of God's call for your life and to get you in a place where you just think it's impossible to serve God. But don't listen to the voice of shame. Listen to this voice: "I will pardon you." Let me say it like this: According to the gospel of grace, He has pardoned you.
God dealt with all your secret junk on the cross. He dealt with it , years ago. Knew you before you were formed into a fetus, knew the course that you were gonna go through, but He knew how you were gonna come out.
He knew that "somehow this dirty piece of gold, that don't even look like gold, has got to go through a process, hallelujah. But when he comes out, he's gonna be pure gold, and everybody's gonna know he's pure gold. But I've got to make sure they are not stopped by shame."
Shame and unbelief are tied together. Me not doing something that the Word promises-- I don't know what it is. We think it's a smorgasbord. "I'm gonna choose to do this, but I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna choose to do this; I'm not gonna do that."
And Jesus made it so clear, says, "If you're ashamed of Me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before My Father which is in heaven." I'm not gonna walk in shame. I believe in Jesus.
For me to walk in shame is for me to say I don't believe on Him. For me to walk in shame is an issue of unbelief. For me to walk in shame is saying, "You know, I know what He said He did and I know what His blood accomplished, but I don't believe it."