PROPHETIC WORDS

A CAUTION AGAINST SHAME

by Toni McDonald

March 2026

Much has been exposed lately, but there is more to come. Some of what is yet to be uncovered will be so offensive, longstanding, or even generational that there may be a temptation to avoid it, pass the responsibility to others, or feeling it is "out of our depth."

However, we must not avoid these things. The Lord is giving us forewarning to prepare for the days ahead—to ensure we have the right tools ready to do the work.

Some of the things to be revealed will challenge our natural comprehension, especially if they involve those we expected to "know better."

A Caution Against Shame

I hear the Lord clearly but gently cautioning leaders: no matter how dumbfounded we may be as these things come to light, we must not partner with shame.

Shame is the currency the enemy uses to keep people trapped. It drives people further into secrecy and hiding, rather than drawing them toward repentance, healing, wholeness, love, and right relationship.

The Three-Fold Ministry of Jesus (Isaiah 61)

As these issues surface, they will require a delicate, three-fold approach based on Isaiah 61: “He has sent me to bind up (comfort) the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

• The Brokenhearted: Victims who need deep compassion and time to walk out their healing journey.

• The Captives: Those who have become victims of external influences and need help to be released from the bondages holding them.

• The Prisoners: Those who have stepped into criminal activity and find themselves trapped in darkness by their own actions.

Addressing these situations will require safe, nuanced, and delicate solutions to ensure both mercy and justice are served. This will take time, as healing is a journey that cannot be forced upon either the offended or the offender. It will take time to properly clean up situations and to restore rightful function within the Body.

The Example of King David

When King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he betrayed the authority God gave him, as well as his elite inner circle of "Mighty Men." As an elite fighting unit, these men knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses; they covered one another to keep the unit strong, knowing their brothers had their backs. Such units do not tolerate behavior that puts the mission at risk—and they especially do not tolerate betrayal.

Trust is precious, fragile, and earned. When trust is broken, wider relationships are impacted in ways that may never be fully restored to their original state, even where forgiveness is present. David’s actions cost him the respect and trust of his elite team. While he received God’s forgiveness, God did not remove the natural consequences. His betrayal of Uriah set off a chain reaction of consequences that followed his household for the rest of his life—as a king, a family man, and a warrior, as he reaped what he had sown.

Restoration and Success

We should always accept repentance and work toward restoring individuals to fellowship within the Body. However, this does not automatically mean restoration back into positions of power or responsibility. True restoration places people where they can succeed and where safe fellowship is established for all, rather than where further temptation may exist.

Repentance vs. Regret

The Lord is calling us to stand with those who are willing to take responsibility for their wrongdoing and who have the courage to face the consequences of their choices, however painful these may be. We must look for the fruit of repentance, not merely regret. Redemption and restoration are always God’s ultimate goals, but they do not always bypass the natural consequences or fallout of one's actions.

Further on in Isaiah 61, God reveals the blueprint from devastation to double-honour which I believe is also relevant. 

He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,  to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, to console the mourners in Zion — to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.

Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers. 

But you will be called the priests of the LORD; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches. 

Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.

For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed. 

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

BIO