Guilt VS. Shame

When was the last time you made a mistake, hurt someone, made a choice that temporarily separated you from God? How did you respond? Did you stew over it and condemn yourself? Or did you accept your mistake and go to God with it, repent and then turn and walk on the Straight and Narrow?

Guilt and shame can easily get mixed up in our minds.

When we think of being guilty, we might think of a courtroom. Someone has broken the law, and the judge has pronounced him guilty. When we sin, we’ve broken God’s law. We’re guilty. We made the wrong choice and we’re responsible for our actions.

Shame is when we condemn ourselves. We let the Enemy, twist the truth that we have sinned, into we’re worthless and unforgivable. Without Jesus he’s right. But because of Jesus, we, YOU, are covered in the grace and love of the Father. Sin has no dominion over us. We’re free. Why would we chain ourselves up again? Why would we paralyze ourselves in the present because of a past that is forgiven and forgotten? Why should we condemn ourselves when Jesus doesn't condemn us?

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - Romans 8:1

Jesus set us free.

“and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." – John 8:32

What is the truth? That God created us in His image. Sinned entered the world. We were born into that sin. But here’s the Good News. God sent His Son, Jesus, to come and live a perfect life, to be a perfect sacrifice, to die and rise again, conquering death, sin, and shame. In those hours on the cross, Jesus took all the sin from every single person, past, present, and future upon Himself. When God the Father looks at us, He sees the blood of Jesus covering us. He looks at us with love and compassion and forgiveness.

Sin has no hold over us.

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” - Romans 6:14

We still live in a sinful world. We’re still going to sin, because that is the sad truth of The Fall. But, if we’ve surrendered to Jesus and have accepted Him as Lord and Savior, He has given us the power over sin. It doesn’t have to hold us down. When we sin, we should repent, and turn from those wrong choices. We can ask the Lord for strength to follow Him and to obey Him. He doesn’t ask for perfection, because He knows we can’t be perfect. He asks for a broken heart, in the sense that we see our need for Him. He asks for a willing heart, one that will take up our crosses daily and choose to die to ourselves and our sinful ways.

a change of heart and mind that involves turning away from sin and toward God