Shame always leads to sin and grace always leads to goodness. Righteousness and holiness come from being emotionally healthy, grounded and secure, not from beating yourself up, from bullying yourself, from negative self-talk, or from thinking you’re not worthy. Many of us think that if we do something wrong, we should feel shame, but that’s simply not true. Guilt and shame are not the same thing. When we do something wrong, guilt reminds us that we made a mistake, but shame condemns us and tells us that we are rotten, horrible and rejected at our core. Shame whispers that you can never change because you are a loser, while guilt says that you shouldn’t have made that mistake because you’re better than that; it focuses on doing better next time.

Reject the power of shame in your life. You can let it go. God loves you just as you are and through Christ crucified, you don’t have to worry about earning or keeping your salvation. You are receiving a double portion of blessing by His finished work and everlasting joy is yours. That’s wonderful news!