But shame is often more difficult than guilt. Shame means guilt, but it also carries with it a sense of dishonor and disgrace. Sometimes we feel dishonor even though we have not committed sin, or even though we have been forgiven of our sins. We may feel that people know too much about us and that they think poorly about us. I think we often feel shame when we don t need to.
People often have great difficulty dealing with shame.
We have rituals for many crisis events in the lives of our friends. When someone dies, we take food and attend the funeral. But we don t have rituals to help our friends cope with shame. They often have to deal with it alone. The people of Judah experienced shame in Zephaniah s day because they had been so publicly punished for their sins.