“O my God, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed…” (Ps 25:2).
It has been noted that human beings, of all God’s creatures on Earth, are the only ones that can blush. And, as humorist Mark Twain added, we’re the only ones who need to! Shame should be the response when the conscience correctly responds to a wrong committed. But now people are ashamed to be ashamed of their wrong-doing! The apostle Paul spoke of those “whose glory is in their shame” (Php 3:19).
However, sometimes shame is the cost of identifying with the Lord. In a clearly Messianic passage, we read that our Lord was put to shame: “I did not hide My face from shame and spitting” (Isa 50:6). But He refused to allow it to deflect Him from God’s purpose (Heb 12:2). And for us, being put to shame for Christ is a privilege! Early believers rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). Shame over sin should lead to repentance, but shame for Christ’s sake is a badge of honor.