“There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you more than He already does—and there is nothing you can do to cause God to love you any less.” This statement is entirely true, and it resonates best for …
When I first returned to America, I often asked new acquaintances their last name and age. After a few funny looks, I realized those are the introductory questions for conversations in Central Asia that I was transplanting into English. When …
In Central Asia, I approached interactions with police from a guilt-justice perspective. Whenever a roadside policeman flagged me to stop (invariably without reason), my response focused primarily on actions —what I did (or actually, what I didn’t do). Before greeting the policeman, …
People often ask “What is a theme verse for honor and shame?” Many verses (as well as motifs and narratives) address honor and shame; but here is a list of 10 key verses.10- 1 Samuel 2:6-8 (Hannah’s song) The Lord kills and …
As we celebrate Christmas, reflecting upon the HonorShame dynamics of Jesus’ incarnation enriches the season’s meaning. Having existed for eternity past with full honor and glory in heaven, Jesus took upon himself the lowly and shameful state of humanity, in …
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” The Judaizers in Galatia considered themselves God’s unique people –the descendants of Abraham – by virtue of their ethnic distinctives, like circumcision. Based on this …
Relationships are paramount in honor-shame cultures. Who you know is more important than what you know. Everything happens through family, neighbors, or acquaintances. These five relational keys are the unwritten rules of social interactions in honor-shame contexts.1. Give giftsWhen I …
If you Google “shame causes”, the auto-completion suggests ‘violence’, ‘anger’, and ‘depression.’ The reality is shame induces sin. To address social ills, it may be helpful to address underlying shame.Here are two well-researched examples of how shame fuels sin. In …
Honorshame.com is designed a forum and hub of practical resources for those working in honor-shame contexts. I’ve noticed that Westerners are generally aware of a culture uniqueness of Muslims or Asians or Latin Americans, but desire to better understand the …