Labels That We Place Upon Ourselves

Labels, Reviews, and Adjectives

Joshua Adams

I have a close friend who, as a young adult, developed a severe allergic reaction to eggs.  Not just scrambled eggs or fried eggs... no, if a product has any trace of egg in the ingredients, my friend's throat will start to swell shut.  This has made life very difficult for her because the percentage of foods that contain egg is quite high!  Once, I made the mistake of offering my friend a granola bar without examining the labels on the box.  Within seconds of taking the first bite, she noticed a slight itching in her throat which we recognized as the beginning of an allergic reaction.  You had better believe that now before I share any food with my friend, I carefully examine the labels and usually ask her too as well.  I do not want to be responsible for her having a severe reaction!! 

Labels are important.   Without a label listing the ingredients, my friend could potentially consume food that might kill her!  Without a warning label, an individual might take too much medication and unintentionally harm themselves.  We rely on the care label on the back of a garment to tell us how to properly wash it.   When used correctly, labels contain valuable needed information about a product.  But sometimes we attach labels to things that don't need them.  For instance, people.

Do you remember the class clown in your graduating class?  Was there a person in your school whose loose morals gave them the label of being "easy?"  Quick... who was a childhood friend whom everyone thought was really "going places?"  I bet you could name them.  Why?  Because people have labels attached to them.  Class Clown.  Tramp.  Go-getter.  Shy.  Friendly.  Confident.  Lazy.  Like it or not, there are labels attached to you too.  Are you the office gossip?  The loudmouth?  The peace maker?  Do people view you as a glass half full or a glass half empty kind of person?  Honestly, you can answer that question right off the back.  Usually the labels that we bear are placed there by our own actions.   But sometimes we get labeled for something we cannot control.  Maybe it’s your weight.  The way you talk.  Your ability (or inability) to learn easily. 

There are other labels attached to us that no one else can see.  Those labels we place upon ourselves.  We allow the devil to manipulate our behaviors and struggles into concrete definitions of who we are.  These labels are more far-reaching than labels placed on us by others.  We can take what someone says about us with a grain of salt.  But what we believe about ourselves affects the entire course of our lives.  For the better part of two decades, I have allowed the Enemy to place label after label upon me.  It's as though he was skipping around me with one of the Avery label makers just slapping labels all over me.  No one else saw those labels.  I made sure of it.  Granted, I have made bad personal decisions which placed labels on me by those affected by my actions.  And yes, sticks and stones do break my bones and words actually do hurt me.  But I could move past the opinions of others.  Be it good or bad, I did not put much stock into what others thought of me.  My own opinions, however, tortured me.  When I looked in the mirror, I saw hundreds of labels across my face.  I hated to look at myself.  If those people who were disappointed in my actions did not want to talk to me at WalMart, I absolutely did not want to see my real self staring at me in the mirror! 

As painful as it is to face the facts (or the lies, as it may be), I want to share with you some of the labels that I have lived with for the last fifteen years of my life.  This is not an exhaustive list, but there are some of the biggies.   I have a gut feeling that the devil recycles these.  He reuses the same lies and attaches them to multiple people.  When you are an unhappy person you are an ineffective person.  He knows that.  Allow me to expose some of the lies that you might believe about yourself.  Yeah, when you remove a label it might hurt a little.  Often there's a little residue left behind that has to be worked at to remove.  But once that label is ripped off, you start replacing lies the devil told you about yourself with the truth that God sees in you!

Label # 1:  Despised.

You must understand:  I hated myself for a long time.  I was in a cycle of sin that never seemed to end.  I would pray that God would remove the thorn in my flesh and every morning I woke up to the same exact thorn piercing my soul.  I felt as though I would never break the chains that the Enemy had wrapped around me.  But instead of being mad at Satan for tempting me and lying to me, I was mad at myself.  I despised everything about myself.  Eventually I began to feel as though God was tired of me too.  How many times can He overlook my sin?  At what point in this never-ending pattern will He throw in the towel?  If I was God I would have pushed the red button and ended my life long before I got to this point in my life.    Jesus told us, though, that the Father is not in the business of kicking out his children, no matter how ravaged by sin they may be.  "However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. " (John 6:37 NLT) The only prerequisite is to simply come to the Father.  Are you lost?  Come home! 

You are NOT despised by God!  When God looks at you, do you believe that all He sees are your sins and your mistakes?  If you do, you are swallowing another lie that the devil is trying to shove down your throat.  The truth is that Jesus bore all of your sins as He hung upon the cross.  You think God has rejected you?  No!  The fact is that He rejected His own Son!  "He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care."  (Isaiah 53:3 NLT) No, God has not abandoned you!   I realize now that He never ditched me!  God turned His back on Jesus as He bore the sins of every human in existence.  Why did He do that?  How could He choose to abandon His only Son to offer you and me the gift of salvation?  It’s simple, really.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV.)   

So how do you remove this label of being despised?   Notice how the prophet Isaiah describes God: "He will feed his flock like a shepherd.  He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart.  He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young."  (Isaiah 40:11 NLT) Does this sound like an angry tyrant Who would abandon you when you need Him most?  You are never more in need of the Savior than when you are at the end of your rope!  Don’t believe the devil’s lie that you are despised by your heavenly Father!  You are loved!  He cherishes you!  As He told the children of Israel, “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself" (Jeremiah 31:3 NLT).  God's love is everlasting.  Your stupidity, your failings, your stubborn addictions... nothing outlasts God's love!  Relish in the incomparable love that the Father has bestowed upon you. 

Label # 2:  Resented.

Has anyone ever wronged you?  I mean, has anybody done something that hurt you badly?  Maybe they slandered your name without cause.  Perhaps someone physically harmed you.  Statistics show that one in three girls and one in four boys will be sexually abused.  The odds of your knowing someone whom has been abused are high.  How do you deal with such a strong feeling of hurt and betrayal?  If you do not forgive that person, you begin to resent them.  It is built into our human natures to hold onto grudges.  If the wrongdoing is particularly severe or causes much pain, it is normal for victims to want to withhold forgiveness from the perpetrator.  Since we find it so difficult to forgive other people, we often place our human concept of forgiveness upon God.  We think that He is not capable for forgiving us. 

Did someone hurt you badly?  Your sins nailed God’s  only Son to the cross.  An old friend slandered your name?  Your lifestyle has slandered the name of the One you are supposed to represent.  You've been physically harmed?  Jesus was beaten, spit upon, and brutally murdered.  Have you or someone close to you been sexually abused?  Your body is the temple of God and every time you use it to fulfill your own desires you are abusing His body. 

 

We read those truths and think "Wow!  There is no way that He can forgive me.  I messed up too bad."  We think that way because we are humans, and forgiveness is a trait that must be cultivated.  Yet, if we think about our faults against God long enough, we feel as though He must resent us.  But guess what?  God is not a human!  He doesn't hold onto the past wrong doings after He forgives them!

"For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins" (Colossians 1:13,14 NLT).  Your freedom was purchased by God.  And He didn't ask for a gift receipt!  He is not going to return you to the miry pit which He rescued you from!  His purchase of our freedom resulted in the forgiveness of our sins!  

What does He do with your sins once He forgives them?  "Once again you will have compassion on us.  You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean" (Micah 7:19 NLT).  Your sins are long gone, floating around with the fishes in the depths of the sea!    And if that doesn't seem far enough away, check this out:  “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12 NLT).   I am not a geographical scholar, but I think that the distance between east and west seems rather lengthy!

The only way to remove the false label of "resented" upon your life is to realize that you, in fact, are "forgiven."  Another term for this forgiveness is redemption.  Couponing is a hot trend right now, and each time you present a coupon to a cashier, you are redeeming that coupon for cash off of your total purchase.    There was a hefty price tag on your head—death.  The payment for your life of sin was death!  The devil is ready to claim you as his own and watch you die.  Just as he prepares to spend his eternity with you, God walks up and presents Jesus’ blood.  And that precious blood of His only begotten Son redeems you!

Isaiah paints this picture beautifully:  "I have swept away your sins like a cloud.  I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist.  Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free" (Isaiah 44:22 NLT).   The price tag of your forgiveness was death.  And Jesus paid that price for you.  It was a hefty price.  Paul implores the Christians at Corinth to not take the price of salvation lightly; “[F]or God bought you with a high price.  So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20.)

 I don't know about you, but if I pay a lot of money for an item I take care of it!  I do not throw it in the trash heap! God does not hate you!  He hates your sin.  Your unfaithfulness breaks His heart.   King David says "The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.   You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God" (Psalm 51: 17 NLT).  God will not reject you, and He does not resent you.  When God sees the brokenness in your heart for your sin and He sees your truly repentant heart He will not reject you!  Grasp the free gift of forgiveness that He is extending to you right now!  Once you wear the badge of “forgiveness,” the tag of “resentment” will soon be long forgotten as you live in freedom.

Label # 3:  Dirty.

Several months back, I took my daughters to a pizza restaurant for a Daddy-Daughter date night.  The food at this particular pizza place is amazing!  We were having a great time enjoying delicious food until my oldest daughter looked inside her straw.  There she found some type of debris.  As a result of the “dirty straw incident”  that particular restaurant is on the "no go" list for my oldest.  I don’t blame her.  There is something about drinking from a dirty glass that makes my skin crawl.  The devil knows that most humans do not like dirty things, so he wants you to think that you are dirty. It makes sense.  We do bad things.  Every day we slip up in some form or fashion.  But does that make you dirty?

“We are all infected and impure with sin.  When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.  Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT.)  Well, there goes any hope for us, right?  If you are still dirty no matter how good you try to be is there any hope at all of being right with the Father?   “As the Scriptures say No one is righteous—not even one’ “(Romans 3:10 NLT.)  Paul seems to further cement the hopelessness we see in the passage from Isaiah.  We are all bad.  The best that we can offer to God is the equivalent of toilet paper… used toilet paper at that!  I’m bad.  You’re bad.  We are all bad!  But is this bad news? 

Maybe, however, these passages act as an equalizer of sorts.  Consider this: If no one is righteous, that means that even the pastor of a mega church needs a Savior!  The murderer requires the exact same Savior as the godly grandmother.  The same Jesus who washes clean the sins of a missionary to a foreign country is the same Lord who cleanses the hearts of a repentant rapist.  We are all in need of a Savior, no matter our station in life.  It has been said that the ground is level at Calvary.  Why don’t you pause for a minute and ponder that phrase? 

So, we are dirty.  We get that.  But something happens when Jesus comes into our hearts.  It is something amazing.  The prophet Isaiah puts it this way: “’Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool’” (Isaiah 1:18 NLT.)   You’re a mess.  The stain of your sins is like a blood red spot on a pure white sheet.  You are essentially wearing a scarlet letter of sorts.  The moment you ask Jesus to come into your heart, though, He washes that scarlet spot and it becomes white as snow.  You experience forgiveness, you become a cherished child of God, and His blood purifies you!

 There is a process of purification, though.  You cannot wear your pure white robe in the muddy pits of the world and expect to remain white as snow.  Paul admonishes us to “Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.  Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you” (2 Corinthians 6:17 NLT.)  We are commanded to not act as the world does.  We are not to engage in the filthy behaviors and customs of the world.  Yet don’t we often find ourselves playing in the devil’s playground?  It’s fun.  It’s convenient.  It is the status quo. 

What happens when we realize that we have defiled what God has purified?  Oftentimes we are sorrowful.  We apologize and swear never to make the same mistake again!  Yet the sorrow that we experience is often short-lived and we find ourselves in the same position not even twenty-four hours later!  However, when we experience godly sorrow, we do more than make empty promises.  Paul tells us, “Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right” (2 Corinthians 7:11 NLT.)  When we are truly repentant and experience sheer heartache over the pain we have caused the Father, we earnestly seek to do better!  We are concerned with clearing ourselves!  We look at the state of the world and experience righteous indignation at the depravity we find all around us.  Maybe today you need to be alarmed!  Maybe you need to find the zeal that you experienced when you gave your heart to Christ. 

Let me leave you with one more admonition from the apostle Paul.  He pulls no punches regarding the Christian life.  He tells the Colossian church “[s]o put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world” (Colossians 3:5 NLT.)  Yes, you can remove the label of “dirty” and replace it with “pure,” but it takes effort.  It requires a determination to daily crucify your earthly desires. 

Paul admonishes Timothy “[d]o not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” (1 Timothy 5:22 NLT.)   I want to point out the fact that we are to separate ourselves from the sinful lifestyles we see around us.  This includes television shows, movies, and websites that promote a godless worldview.  “It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT.)  If Paul says we should not mention ungodly acts, how much more should we avoid watching them on television or in movies or online?

The road to purity is tough, but doable.  If living in purity was not an achievable order, Jesus would not have said “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8 NLT.)   Jesus believes in you!  Isn’t that fuel enough to deny the pleasures of the flesh?  Go ahead and rip off the label of “dirty!”  You have been made clean through the blood of the Lamb!

Label # 4: Indefensible. 

The Oxford dictionary defines the word “indefensible” as “not able to be protected against attack” or “not justifiable by argument.”  Imagine a castle without a moat, or a government without military… pretty useless, right?  We need a way to keep ourselves safe from attack.  Peter reminds us that we must “Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NLT.)  Don’t forget that Satan was the one who convinced you to label yourself as “indefensible.”  He knows that if you think you are unable to defend yourself against his attacks then he has won.  And if you stop fighting against the devil he will stop fighting you.  The devil will not waste his time on a lukewarm Christian because he already has him right where he wants him to be.  

Picture, if you will, a lawyer called upon to defend a known serial killer.  There is no doubt that the defendant committed the murders; the evidence is as clear as day.  It is an open and shut case.  Imagine being the lawyer who must defend this person in court!  How would you try to present this criminal in a less evil light?  What kind of defense could you offer that would cause the judge and jury to picture this individual as a human being rather than a monster?

I have bad news.  You are that defendant.  You are guilty of living your life your own way.  “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:6 NLT.)  Your very sins caused the murder of an innocent man two thousand years ago.  The blood of Jesus Christ is on your hands.  But don’t worry, you are not alone on the witness stand.  We are all guilty. You and I may not have been at Calvary on the day Jesus was killed, but we are just as guilty as the soldiers who spat on His face, ripped out His beard, and nailed Him to the cross.

  “This includes you who were once far away from God.  You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions” (Colossians 1:21 NLT.)  Not only were you guilty… you were an enemy of God!  Your selfish thoughts and your wicked actions created a chasm between you and the Father!  Now, if Paul had closed out the first chapter of Colossians with verse twenty-one, we would be most miserable creatures indeed!  Guess what?  He didn’t stop there!

“Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body.  As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault (Colossians 1:22 NLT.) Can we pause for a moment and bask in that amazing verse?  Read it again.  Read it out loud, actually.  Have you ever stopped to consider that the devil cannot hear your thoughts?  But he can sure hear you quote the Bible out loud.  That, my friend, is your ammunition.  Go ahead, I will wait for you to do business.

 You, Christian, are not indefensible!  You are reconciled!  You are settled.  The debt for your sin has been appeased.  Jesus has interceded on your behalf!  No longer a filthy sinner, no longer unable to be protected, no longer unable to be defended, you have become justified!

As a teenager, I learned in youth group that to be justified meant that it was “just as if I had never sinned.”  (If you say that out loud you will see that it sounds a lot like you are saying “justification.”)  Paul says “Therefore, since have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.  Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory” (Romans 5:1,2 NLT.) 

When we wear the label of “indefensible,” we cannot experience peace.  We are terrified of what God thinks of us.  Yet, because of Jesus’ death on the cross we actually stand in a position of privilege!  We are not just street urchins in God’s kingdom!  This is not Daddy Warbucks bringing in little orphan Annie as a publicity gimmick.  This is the Creator of the world choosing to adopt us even when He knew that at times we would not act like His children!  He runs after us when we run away from Him!  Now that we see the Father’s love for us, we can stop dwelling in our past failures and shortcomings and instead eagerly anticipate the glory which God has prepared for us. 

Often, we perceive God as an angry dad whose child is out past curfew; He is standing at the door with a belt in His hand and a snarl on His lips.  Does God hate sin? Yes.  Does God hate you when you sin? No. Emphatically, no!   God loves you!  “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation” (Romans 5:8,9 NLT.)  Do you deserve hell?  Absolutely you do!  So do I!  Salvation is not about getting what you deserve!  God’s gift of justification shields us from His wrath when we close our eyes in death. 

Remove that label of “indefensible” and wipe off the remaining residue of “self-condemnation” with the miracle of “justification.”  You are no longer a rebel; you are justified!  You cannot walk in freedom if you feel as though you are unable to win the war against the enemy.   Rest in this verse: “So now there is no condemnation for this who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT.)

Label # 5:  Shameful 

Have you ever had an inside dog?  I grew up with cocker spaniels and miniature schnauzers, and as a result I feel the need to have a constant furry companion in the house with me.   Earlier this year my daughters and I rescued a cheweenie from the humane society.  Rufus is the most energetic and loving dog that I have ever had!  But Rufus also has the smallest bladder that I have ever seen in a dog.  While he has improved over the past few months, every so often little Rufus will leave a puddle on the floor.  Occasionally he leaves a "present" on the floor as well.  I will spare you the details of one such incident when my youngest covered up a Rufus "gift" with a bath towel and I stepped onto it with my bare feet.

Rufus might have a small bladder, but let me tell you—he knows when he does something wrong!  And when he leaves his calling card on the floor he looks up to me with his big puppy dog eyes and his floppy ears down, tail tucked between his legs.  It is the universal image of puppy shame.  I get frustrated and at times I might yell at him, but when he shows me those big brown eyes there is no way I can stay mad at him.  Sure, he messed up (literally!) but he is still my little buddy and I love the little varmint!

Do you feel as though you can empathize with little old Rufus?  I sure do!  My entire life has been a vicious cycle of trying to do right and then falling right back into the old routine.  Let's face it; our sinful human nature is foolish.  The Bible puts it rather bluntly:  "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness" (Proverbs 26:11 NLT).  The moment that we make the same old mistake, the shame hits us like a ton of bricks.  The pleasures of sin last only for a season and I have found that usually the instant that the ungodly deed is done, I can almost feel the eyes of God looking down upon me asking me “Did you really just do that?”

Jesus selected twelve men to be his closest disciples.  One-sixth of them (that’s two disciples if you are bad at math like I am) made some pretty big messes on the night of Jesus’ crucifixion.  Judas willingly gave Him up to be murdered, but "[w]hen Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse" (Matthew 27:3a NLT).  Unable to cope with the shame and the horror of his betrayal, Judas hung himself.  Later that evening, the apostle Peter denied that he knew Jesus, "and immediately the rooster crowed the second time.  Suddenly, Jesus' words flashed through Peter's mind: 'Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.' And he broke down and wept" (Mark 14:72 NLT.)   Earlier in the Bible, Peter adamantly swore to Jesus that he would never betray Him!  Yet he did.  Not once, but three times!  Can you imagine the shame that Peter felt?  He could feel the eyes of His Lord—his friend—upon him and it broke him. 

We judge Judas and Peter.  It is always easy to point fingers.  But don't we betray Jesus when we go into those places that we have no business being in?  When we share that off-color joke, aren't we denying that we know Jesus?  As our fingers type in that website which we do not need to access are we not betraying Christ?  After the deed is done, after the laughter at  the dirty joke has commenced, we feel shame.  Like Rufus looking up at me with his sad puppy dog eyes we look up to our Heavenly Father and say "oops.  I messed up once more."  Or maybe we have allowed shame to become so invasive that we take the Adam and Eve approach and try to hide from God. 

That's what shame does.  It separates.  Our first reaction is to hide from our Father.  We are so mad at ourselves for disappointing Him.  Perhaps we look up to him with insincere sorrow and make empty promises to do better, knowing full well that we will not.  Turning from God is not the answer!  Running away from His presence does not solve the shame problem!  David tells us that "[t]hose who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces" (Psalm 34:5 NLT.) 

When Rufus looks at me with his sad eyes, I inevitably lift him up and love on him.  Am I frustrated and disappointed that he made a mess on the floor?  Sure I am.  But I love that dog too much to stay mad at him.  If I can love an animal with that magnitude, do you not believe that the God Who created you wants to love you?  As the father of two young daughters, I know that there is not a single thing that they could do to make me stop loving them.  God is your Heavenly Father.  He feels that strongly about you!

Do you know what the opposite of "shameful" is?  "Just."   The definition of "just" is "based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair."  In order to remove the particularly devastating label of "shameful," you must decide to live a life in accordance to God's Word.  If you continue to wallow in shameful activities, then naturally you will remain labeled by shame.  Martin Luther noted a profound truth in Romans:  "For in it [the gospel of Christ] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith' " (Romans 1:16 NKJV.)  A just individual will live their life in accordance with God's rules.  We must have faith that God's way is the best way, even if it not the easiest or the most popular way. 

There is a difference in knowing what to do, and actually doing the right thing.  Paul states that "(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified" (Romans 2:13 NKJV;) You probably know what you need to do, and you realize the wrong things that you are doing. Exclaiming that the dog left a mess in the middle of the living room floor does not eliminate the odor emanating from it!  The offending pile must be physically removed from the living room and the surrounding area cleaned with a mop.  Just acknowledging that the pornography you are viewing is detrimental to your spiritual life does not fix the problem!  The offensive pile of waste (which is a rather accurate definition for pornography) has to be physically removed from your eyes! 

 Removing the label of “shame” does require work on your part.  There is a difference between being justified and living justly.  God justified you by His Son's death on the cross.   When He looks at your soul, He sees the blood of Jesus Christ.  Your sins are forgiven and forgotten!  However, it is difficult for God to forget your sins if every time He looks at you there you are, committing the same sins that He forgave you for yesterday!  The grace of God is not a convenient "Get out of hell free" card to be played at the opportune moment.  You must make a conscious effort every day to live your life in accordance with God's law. 

This does sound like a struggle, doesn't it?  "Oh great," you may be thinking, "Now we get to the portion where they list ninety-seven things that I cannot do anymore."  If that is your opinion of just living, you might have a more serious problem in your heart than shame.   God's laws are like a fence around us, keeping us safe from harm.  Remember Rufus, my little puppy?  He does not like being attached to a leash when I take him out for a walk, but if I do not restrain him he will run into the street and get run over by a car.  We might be smarter than a dog, but we are still dumber than God.  Without restraint (God's laws) we will run right out into the highway of the world and get hit by the darts of the Enemy!  "Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light" (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT.) 

Jesus offers to swap out your backpack!   Your guilt and shame has you hunched over.  Aren't you tired?  He will change out the weighty burden of sin's chains and offer you freedom.  Once you begin a steady diet of God's Word rather than the Devil's World, you will find that following His rules are not nearly as difficult as being Satan's puppet!  You will never be God's marionette!  He does not dictate your decisions; if He did would you be in the condition you are today?  The devil, on the other hand, will play you like a violin.  He will use you, abuse you, and then lose you.  Rip off that "shameful" label!  It will hurt and applying God's Word to it will take some getting used to.  But one morning you will wake up and look in the mirror and see "just" in it's place!