“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” — Romans 8:1 Shame is an assault on the core of who we are. It assassinates our character, minimizes our worth, and dashes our hope. Like Adam and Eve, we often hide shame, but hiding never heals it. Left unattended, shame can develop into a crippling reality that paralyzes us. Like an infectious disease, shame impacts … disease, shame impacts everyone . . . but not all shame is bad.
Shame can either be an oppressive and powerful tool of worldly condemnation or a source of conviction that God uses to bring his people back to himself. Having the discernment to know the difference and recognize shame in its many forms can change the course of one’s life.
In a transparently honest style, Pass shares of her experience dealing with shame after learning that her former husband was a sexual offender. Having lived through the aftermath, she leads you into God’s Word where you will see for yourself that God is bigger than your pain, shame, mistakes, and limitations.
Shame Off You shares how freedom can be found in choosing to break the cycle of shame by learning from the past, developing healthy thinking patterns, silencing lies, and overcoming the traps of vanity and other people’s opinions.
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This book was born out of an exremely painful period in Denise Pass’s life and she has chosen to share her experiences and her journey so that others can benefit. As I read about the traumatic circumstances that touched her family I was sickened that she and her children suffered so much and felt so ashamed. This is a book about shame but it’s not with a ‘shame on you’ mentality; instead, this author is instructing readers how to get rid of those feelings and get the ‘shame off you’.
I am very impressed with Pass’s transparency as she shares her hurts, her feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, and finally her realization that God is bigger than all of this! In reading her book I recognized that all of us have experienced feelings of shame and the only difference is in the type of shame and the depth of our feelings about that shame.
There are so many reasons why I liked this book. The accounts of personal experiences, the devotions and the prayers at the end of each chapter, and the Reference Guide at the end of the book with its abundant supply of God’s Word that is applicable to the different types of shame we experience.
Some of the subject matter in this book certainly isn’t easy to read but Pass has made it easy to understand and she has been very honest about her feelings of failure and rejection. I believe Shame Off You will be a valuable resource for both personal use and church study groups. It offers support, encouragement, and confirmation that God and His Grace are truly the key to escape ‘from hiding to healing’.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I am voluntarily sharing my honest thoughts in this review.
Oh boy.
I had no idea who Denise Pass was before picking up this book. And, frankly, I wondered what story she had that prompted her writing it.
The answer came almost immediately. And it wasn’t what I expected…it was worse.
She knows, folks. Pass knows about shame. She lived it. She saw it. And she came to know the all-powerful, all-redeeming love of Jesus Christ amidst and in spite of it.
If you think your shame is too much, too big, for God to forgive, redeem, work through, or something else, read this book. (With a Bible next to you too. And maybe some Kleenex and a journal.)
Beautifully written and heartbreakingly real and raw, Shame Off You challenges readers to take a deep dive into God’s love and go “further up, and further in” (to quote C.S. Lewis). Each chapter includes a devotional and questions to prompt further reflection. A 25-page reference guide at the end provides helpful topical resources and corresponding Bible verses.
I’ll definitely revisit this book in years to come. I so appreciate having the hard copy (over an ebook — much as I love mah ebooks!) — so I can either reread straight through, or flip through the resources at the end.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
In Shame Off You, author Denise Pass seeks to empower readers to live a shame-free life. Since reading Shame Off You, I’ve had moments in which I catch myself entertaining certain thoughts (usually something said by someone else) and realize that I don’t have to indulge the shame. Shame off me. I repeat it out loud and give myself permission to let it go. Shame Off You has helped me become more conscious of the shame and negativity floating in my mind.
In Shame Off You, Denise Pass shares glimpses of her personal story as she addresses her topic. Due to my life circumstances, I expected to be strongly connected with the things she wrote. Chapter one grabbed my attention in a strong start, but I found chapter two confusing. I think this chapter would have benefited by clearly defining certain terms (shame, condemnation, conviction, etc). As it was, I restarted at the beginning of the book in case I had missed something, but didn’t find further clarification. For a few chapters, I felt disconnected from the book. Then, somewhere in the middle, things clicked and I began to absorb the powerful truths presented.
As I mentioned before, I benefited from reading Shame Off You by Denise Pass. So much truth about human experience lies within the pages and I soaked it in. Denise Pass writes with honesty about many issues that are related to shame (rejection, comparison, sin, failure, etc). I recommend Shame Off You to anyone dealing with shame and its far-reaching effects.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.