1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.3For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,4that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Jesus died so that we might experience His forgiveness - and that's available to all, as we come before Him with a repentant heart, confessing our sins, appropriating the blood of Jesus to cover them, and recognizing that we are forgiven. But, often we walk in guilt or shame - shame for what we may have done prior to our conversion, from which Jesus wants to release us. Or, shame and humiliation for what we have done as believers - God wants to restore us, to cast aside our sins, mistakes, and failures, and to walk in the newness of life, clothed in His righteousness, confident that things have been made right because we have allowed Him to release us from the condemnation that can hold us back.
I like this passage in Romans 13, which directs us regarding the proper spiritual clothing:
12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.13Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
She was the new student who had just moved cross-country and she began to attend school outside Jacksonville, Florida. On her third day of school, Miranda Larkin, a sophomore at Oakleaf High School in Orange Park, Florida, was told that her skirt was too short and was sent to the nurse's office, where she was told to put on the dress-code-violation outfit, according to an ABC News report.
That outfit consists of a neon-yellow t-shirt with “DRESS CODE VIOLATION” emblazoned on the front of it in capital letters, along with red sweatpants with the same message down the right leg.
Miranda's mom, Dianna Larkin, according to the story, is outraged that her daughter was forced to wear what she called a “shame suit” at school. The mother said, "She’s a good kid...She actually has a perfect disciplinary record. I’m not a rescue mom. I really do believe in punishing my kids if they do something wrong, but this is not about punishing kids. This is about humiliation.”
Miranda’s skirt was shorter than the prescribed length of knee-length or longer, but she said the violation was unintentional. She was a new student to the school, having just moved to Florida from Seattle eight days before school started.
A spokesman from the Clay County school district told ABC News affiliate WJXX in Jacksonville, Florida, that students who violate the dress code are given three options: to stay in their clothes and go to in-school-suspension, to wear the sweats and t-shirt as punishment and continue going to class as usual, or to arrange for someone to bring them a new set of clothes.
Miranda said she was only given one option -- to wear the humiliating outfit, adding that one has to ask for in-school suspension.
Gavin Rawlins, a spokesman for the school district, told ABC News the district is open to other solutions for dress code violations.
“We’re looking at all options, but what we’re not going to do is just change in a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “We take slow, deliberative action with things. This is what we thought was the best way to handle the situation at the time, but we’re certainly open to looking at other options. What we’re not open to doing is watering down discipline to students.”
A spokesman from the Clay County school district told ABC News affiliate WJXX in Jacksonville, Florida, that students who violate the dress code are given three options: to stay in their clothes and go to in-school-suspension, to wear the sweats and t-shirt as punishment and continue going to class as usual, or to arrange for someone to bring them a new set of clothes.
Miranda said she was only given one option -- to wear the humiliating outfit, adding that one has to ask for in-school suspension.
After she felt like her appeals to school officials did not generate a satisfactory response, Dianna went to the media. In a letter, she wrote, “My problem is not with the dress code itself,” she wrote. “I am actually a proponent of school uniforms (which trust me does NOT make my kids happy), and believe that if you break the rules of the school you should be punished regardless of your opinion of the rule itself. My problem is with the public shaming of kids.”
“We’re looking at all options, but what we’re not going to do is just change in a knee-jerk reaction,” he said. “We take slow, deliberative action with things. This is what we thought was the best way to handle the situation at the time, but we’re certainly open to looking at other options. What we’re not open to doing is watering down discipline to students.”
So, what do you think? Did the punishment "shame suit" fit the crime? Should she have been cut a little slack because she was a new student? I'd say if she was not given the three options, as she contends, then officials did not abide by their own rules and perhaps Miranda was treated unfairly.
But, spiritually speaking, what caught my eye was the concept of the "shame suit" and how we as humans, even believers in Christ, will don our own version of such a suit. We may commit sin, we might make a mistake, or experience failure in our lives and we wear an attitude of shame, even for sins from which we are forgiven. These condemning thoughts and attitudes that we allow ourselves to be adversely affected by can actually paralyze us in experiencing the abundant life. Instead of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and reflecting His character and His joy, we live in bondage to the regrets of the past, which affects how we approach life and how we relate to other people.
The Bible teaches that Godly sorrow brings repentance, and if we repent of our sin, confess our transgressions to God, and receive His forgiveness, then the matter is settled - our sins are cast into the sea of forgetfulness. And, we can walk in humility toward the Lord and ask Him to give us strength to change our behavior. But, if we allow the residual effect of shame and humiliation to permeate our consciousness, that can cause us to walk with a sense of condemnation and worthlessness. God has a different and better story for us. He wants us to accept the free gift of forgiveness and recognize that His Son experienced shame and humiliation so that we could walk in freedom and forgiveness. So, put off the "shame suit" and put on the Lord Jesus Christ - the resources of heaven reflecting the nature of the Lord.
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