Unholy Trio

In our discussion at the Tuesday nights men's group a new insight emerged. Some were struggling with internal issues which is normal for that time. My mind went back to the original subversive elements introduced in the Garden of Eden; fear, shame and blame. Suddenly it dawned on me what lies behind each of these false principles. There are three basic lies or application of lies.

Fear – at its deepest root all of our fear is based on lies about God, on our twisted view of God that causes us to doubt that He will take care of us or wants the best for us and will protect us. When we really know God and believe in His goodness and rest in His love, all fear will be extinguished. Perfect love casts out fear.

Shame – in all its aspects is simply based on lies about myself, whether received from others or created in my own mind. Shame is a sense of worthlessness, of not being valuable, feeling that I am a mistake and am not worth caring about. Our natural response to counteract shame is pride – our personal attempt to add value to ourself to fill the void inside. So any form of pride is also based on shame which is based on lies about ourselves.

Blame – is our attempt to shift responsibility from myself to someone else to resolve the first two problems. This is based on lies we choose to believe and even create about others. Blame becomes the lock that keeps us from facing our issues honestly because we are waiting for someone else to change or for circumstances to get better etc. This rounds out the unholy trio that prevents us from growing in grace and in healthy relationships with others and with God.