Move Beyond Your Failure... Continued
3. The reproach of defeat can settle on those who have entered into
life's challenges only to come up feeling like losers. This lie
says, "You are a loser in life."
Who hasn't witnessed the fallen countenance of an athlete who
suffers a loss in an important game? How much more does defeat
affect those who fall short in business, lose a job or struggle with
an addiction?
The enemy is right there to suggest shame and implant a reproach.
Yet the promise of God is that our faith brings us into supernatural
victory, no matter what defeats we may face in the world.
4. The reproach of poverty is devastating, but the Lord promises to
take it away (see Ezek. 36:30). This lie says, "If you don't have
much, you aren't worth much." Lack brings its own emotional and
spiritual pathology into families, nations and cultures around the
world.
The enemy knows poverty is a stifling source of humiliation to
people. He uses it as an opportunity to drive us to hopeless
passivity or (especially in the West) to birth the fear-filled
triplets of overwork, greed and ostentatious living.
But material things can never lift the imbedded reproaches of lack.
It's only when we realize how eternally rich we are in Christ that
we can come to the place of true security.
5. The reproach of moral failure can be a merciless tormentor,
especially in the case of fallen spiritual leaders. This lie says,
"There is no hope for those who fail."
Remember Hester Prynn in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet
Letter? She was forced to bear the reproach of her adultery by
wearing an embroidered letter "A" wherever she went. Many never
recover from the scarlet letter the enemy has placed on their lives
after sexual sins.
While falling into any sin brings a serious spiritual injury, it
need not be terminal. God prescribes the cure of restoration. We
must carefully and humbly administer this cure, resisting the urge
to pull the spiritual life-support plug on a fallen brother.
Countless other reproaches seek to afflict God's people. Victims of
sexual abuse, people suffering from HIV or AIDS, those who have been
given up for adoption, members of minority communities and those who
suffer from disabilities can all feel the unfair oppression of the
enemy's shame.
Reproach can enter our lives through the front door of our own
failures or sneak in through the back door of the sins of others.
But if we will look to the cross, the enemy's last-ditch effort to
keep us from coming into our place of blessing will be removed.
No More Shame on You
Once our eyes are opened to the reality of reproaches, they are
easily rolled away through the promises of God. Before Israel could
cross over the Jordan, they had to be circumcised. Once that was
accomplished, the Lord rolled away the reproach of their former
lives in Egypt (see Josh. 5:7-9).
In Christ, our hearts have already been spiritually circumcised,
paving the way for our reproaches to be removed so we can move
beyond our past into our inheritance.
The cross is the guarantee that we can be free from reproach.
Galatians 3:13-14 says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse ...
having become a curse for us ... that the blessing of Abraham might
come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the
promise of the Spirit through faith." No curse or reproach can
remain with us if we stand on the finished work of Christ, who
became a reproach for us.
If you are suffering under the weight of reproach or would like to
minister to those who are, keep the following steps in mind:
1. Reclaim the promises of God. Isaiah 61:7 promises: "Instead of
your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion
they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they
shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs."
This verse lets us know that He has lifted our shame and we are free
to move forward into the land with a double portion blessing. Take
the promises of God that the enemy stole from you back into your
spirit and hold them tight. They are yours.
2. Remove the shame. Once you trust these promises, you can remove
the condition of shame by addressing it in the name of Jesus and
commanding it to disconnect from you. Boldly condemn the enemy's
shame and the lies that breed hopelessness. Ask a strong believer to
agree with you in faith for freedom from every torment.
3. Receive restoration. Allow the healing, restoring work of the
Holy Spirit to roll back every reproach of the enemy. Allow a new
mind-set that is aligned with the will of God to form. Let a new
confession come from your lips.
Agree with the truth that you are being restored and made new. Say
aloud, "The Lord has removed my shame, and this reproach has been
rolled away!" Your confession allows faith to rise up and lift the
shame from your life (see Rom. 10:10-11).
A woman came into my office who had faithfully served in a ministry
until she was prompted to leave by the unwanted advances of a
spiritual leader. Reluctant to tell others of her situation, she
quietly resigned.
When some who did not understand her decision questioned and then
condemned her for "abandoning the sheep" she found herself not only
alone but also in the shadows of a haunting reproach. She believed
she had failed. She had lost hope.
After telling me her story, we prayed together and walked through
these steps. The Lord Jesus rolled back her reproach. Her tears were
turned into joy because God's promises were claimed and the shame
had to lift. Today, she walks in her inheritance.
The same freedom can come to you in Christ. Claim the promises of
God, renounce the shame and hopelessness, and rejoice in the power
of the cross. Your reproach will be rolled away, and soon you'll be
crossing over into your promised land.
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Cannistraci, David "Move Beyond Your Failure" Charisma Magazine
August 2004:
84.
