Ashamed

Ashamed (shame)

Our sinful conscience or tendency toward evil can cause us to feel ashamed.

Genesis 3:9-10 HCSB So the LORD God called out to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 And he said, "I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."
2 Kings 8:11 HCSB Then Elisha stared steadily at him until Hazael was ashamed. The man of God wept,
Isaiah 1:29 HCSB Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you desired, and you will be embarrassed because of the gardens you have chosen.
Ezekiel 16:52-54 HCSB You must also bear your disgrace, since you have been an advocate for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you because of your sins, which you committed more abhorrently than they did. So you also, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous. 53 "I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and those of Samaria and her daughters. I will also restore your fortunes among them, 54 so you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did when you comforted them.

Our youthful sins will later cause us shame.

Jeremiah 31:19 HCSB After I returned, I repented; After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.

A setback in life can cause shame.

2 Kings 19:26 HCSB Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.
Jeremiah 9:19 HCSB For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion: How devastated we are. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land; our dwellings have been torn down.
Jeremiah 51:51 HCSB We are ashamed because we have heard insults. Humiliation covers our faces because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD's temple.
Luke 16:2-3 HCSB So he called the manager in and asked, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.' 3 "Then the manager said to himself, 'What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig; I'm ashamed to beg.

An inability to provide the basic necessities for our people (in this case water) can cause frustration, shame and humiliation.

Jeremiah 14:3-4 HCSB Their nobles send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns; they find no water; their containers return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads. 4 The ground is cracked since no rain has fallen on the land. The farmers are ashamed; they cover their heads.
Joel 1:11 HCSB Be ashamed, you farmers, wail, you vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

There can be a healthy shame in the presence of the Lord’s holiness.

2 Chronicles 30:15 HCSB They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, and they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the LORD's temple.
Ezra 9:6 HCSB And I said: My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens.
Ezekiel 36:32 HCSB It is not for your sake that I will act"--the declaration of the Lord GOD--"let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel!
Ezekiel 43:10-11 HCSB "As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. Let them measure its pattern, 11 and they will be ashamed of all that they have done. Reveal the design of the temple to them--its layout with its exits and entrances--its complete design along with all its statutes, design specifications, and laws. Write it down in their sight so that they may observe its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

The antidote to such shame is obedience to the Lord’s Word.

Psalms 119:5-6 HCSB If only my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes! 6 Then I would not be ashamed when I think about all Your commands.

Our emotions serve our spirits in the same way our nerve endings do our bodies. They are there to motivate us to action and to keep us safe. Failing to heed shame will only bring more destruction.

Jeremiah 3:3 HCSB This is why the showers haven't come--why there has been no spring rain. You have the brazen look of a prostitute and refuse to be ashamed.
Jeremiah 6:15 HCSB Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.
Jeremiah 8:12 HCSB Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD.

Hubris or overconfidence can bring shame.

Job 6:20 HCSB They are ashamed because they had been confident of finding water. When they arrive there, they are frustrated.

Placing one’s confidence in the world or its resources will inevitably end in shame.

Isaiah 20:5 HCSB Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.
Isaiah 23:4 HCSB Be ashamed Sidon, the stronghold of the sea, for the sea has spoken: "I have not been in labor or given birth. I have not raised young men or brought up young women."
Isaiah 30:5 HCSB everyone will be ashamed because of a people who can't help. They are of no benefit, they are no help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.
Isaiah 37:27 HCSB Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are plants of the field, tender grass, grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.
Jeremiah 22:22 HCSB The wind will take charge of all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your evil.

Placing one’s confidence in other so-called gods or religions will bring shame.

Isaiah 42:17 HCSB They will be turned back and utterly ashamed--those who trust in idols and say to metal-plated images: You are our gods!
Hosea 4:19 HCSB A wind with its wings will carry them off, and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.
Hosea 10:5-6 HCSB The residents of Samaria will have anxiety over the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its idolatrous priests rejoiced over it; the people will mourn over it, over its glory. It will certainly depart from them. 6 The calf itself will be taken to Assyria as an offering to the great king. Ephraim will experience shame; Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.

Those who begin placing their trust in their own understanding rather than seeking the Lord’s counsel will end up embarrassed and ashamed.

Micah 3:7 HCSB Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners disappointed. They will all cover their mouths because there will be no answer from God.
Joshua 9:14-16 HCSB Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but did not seek the LORD's counsel. 15 So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them. 16 Three days after making the treaty with them, they heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors, living among them.
Proverbs 3:5 HCSB Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
Zechariah 13:4 HCSB On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.
Romans 6:20-21 HCSB For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. 21 And what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death.

God can make our enemies ashamed of their actions toward us.

Psalms 6:10 HCSB All my enemies will be ashamed and shake with terror; they will turn back and suddenly be disgraced.
Psalms 35:4 HCSB Let those who seek to kill me be disgraced and humiliated; let those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed.
Isaiah 41:11 HCSB Be sure that all who are enraged against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will become as nothing and will perish.

Those who place their trust in God should never feel ashamed for it.

Psalms 34:5 HCSB Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed.
Psalms 119:46 HCSB I will speak of Your decrees before kings and not be ashamed.
Isaiah 29:22 HCSB Therefore, the LORD who redeemed Abraham says this about the house of Jacob: Jacob will no longer be ashamed and his face will no longer be pale.

When God places us in positions of authority and responsibility, we should never be ashamed of that authority. To do so would be to be ashamed of the source of our authority – God Himself.

2 Corinthians 10:7-8 HCSB Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself of this: just as he belongs to Christ, so do we. 8 For if I boast some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed.

When Jesus returns, He will be ashamed of us if we have been ashamed of Him.

Mark 8:38 HCSB For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

Luke 9:26 HCSB For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels.

Those who have abused the power and resources God has given them will be ashamed of themselves on that Great Day.

Micah 7:16-17 HCSB Nations will see and be ashamed of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf. 17 They will lick the dust like a snake; they will come trembling out of their hiding places like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will tremble before the LORD our God; they will stand in awe of You.
Zechariah 13:4 HCSB On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.

Diligent study and proper application of the Scriptures will not only save us from embarrassment, but also shame those who try to oppose us for sinful reasons.

Titus 2:8 HCSB Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

Shame is a valid tool in church leadership and discipleship.

2 Thessalonians 3:14 HCSB And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take note of that person; don't associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

We should never be ashamed of the gospel—it is a source of power.

Romans 1:16 HCSB For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

We should not be ashamed of our persecuted brothers and sisters.

2 Timothy 1:8 HCSB So don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me His prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God,
2 Timothy 1:16 HCSB May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.

After all, if Jesus is not ashamed to call them His family, why should we?

Hebrews 2:11 HCSB For the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers,
Hebrews 11:16 HCSB But they now aspire to a better land--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

We should not be ashamed of being persecuted either.

2 Timothy 1:12 HCSB and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.
1 Peter 4:16 HCSB But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he should not be ashamed, but should glorify God with that name.

We should make every effort to avoid embarrassment when our Master returns for us.

Philippians 1:20 HCSB My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
2 Timothy 2:15 HCSB Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
1 John 2:28 HCSB So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.