Is it a good or bad thing to feel ashamed? The moment Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, they realized their nakedness and were ashamed. Now, however, we live in a society where people sin but no longer feel ashamed. With the click of a mouse, sin and evil quickly enter our lives. Censorship is near impossible. What shames us will reveal who we really are.

According to Ephesians 5:12, some in the Ephesian church sinned in secret, and it was a shame even to speak of such sins. In our society today, however, nothing seems to be shameful anymore. This is unlike in the past when society was more moral and conservative.

We live in a society where fornication holds no stigma, where there is no shame in immodest dressing, and where gossips are rampant. The more holy we are, the more sensitive we will be to sin. If we know we will be ashamed if any of our secret actions or words are revealed, we must, in the first place, not even do those things or say those words in secret. This will act as our protection. The Lord has revealed to us that in the last days the world will be like the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Therefore, as God’s children, we must not follow the world. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. The example of Ravi Zacharias should be a warning to us. A famous Christian apologist, he sinned in secret, but in the end his sins were revealed.

According to Ephesians 5:13, whatever we do in secret, we must be able to manifest in the light as we are the children of God. We must reprove carnality using the truth of God so that if we have been sinning in secret, we must confess and repent before God. We cannot hide from the Lord – our sin will eventually find us out on the day of judgment.

We live in a dangerous and immoral world. We must take practical steps to keep ourselves away from sin, eg: by memorizing scriptures to keep our minds and lives pure and holy. Our lives must reflect the Word of God.