Shame vs Guilt

Guilt, or conviction, is what the Holy Spirit gives us, because he loves us, when we do something wrong. He’s correcting our sinful behavior because it (1) is self-destructive, and (2) interferes with our relationship with him. The message of godly guilt is, “I did something wrong.”

Shame, on the other hand, is not from God, but rather is Satan’s perversion of godly guilt. Shame is the belief that I am uniquely and fatally flawed. The message of shame is, “I am something wrong.” That’s the “flawed” part. In addition are the “uniquely” and “fatally” adjectives of shame:

• “I am uniquely flawed.” No one is as bad as me. I am the only one with this problem.
• “I am fatally flawed.” I can’t be fixed. My flawed-ness is permanent. The best I can do is hide it.

Shame holds so many Christians in prison, keeping them from living out their true identity, or often even knowing what it is. But each of shame’s three lies described above get smashed to pieces by the Word of God:

• I’m not something wrong. I was made in God’s own image (Genesis 1:27). I have been made a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and God loves me apart from what I do (Ephesians 1:3-14).
• I’m not uniquely flawed; I’m not the only one like this. No temptation has seized me but that which is common to mankind (1 Corinthians 10:13).
• I am not fatally flawed. Jesus’ blood is bigger and stronger than any and all of my sin, and by his stripes I am healed (Isaiah 53:5, Romans 6:10, Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 3:18).

So who are you going to believe?

Have you been down this road? Does this strike a chord with you? Tell us in the comments.