Hey Bestie! Let’s talk about how to overcome guilt and shame.
Guilt and shame. I like to think of them as cousins with a sinister plan.
Guilt isn’t all bad, but he has two sides to him depending on how long you welcome him. For this post, we will personalize the two emotions so that you better understand them.
I’ve had them come into my life many times, but I’ve always been able to rule over them thanks to God.
In this post, you will learn the difference between guilt and shame, practical tips to overcome guilt and shame, and more!
This post will be all about how to overcome guilt and shame.
Are you ready? Let’s geaux!
Differences Between Guilt And Shame
2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV-Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
When guilt is mentioned, its not long before someone mentions shame. As said before, I like to think of the emotions as cousins with a sinister plan.
Guilt is the one who has a good side to him depending on how long you allow him to stay around. If you let him linger too long, then he is prone to inviting his big cousin shame to torture you.
Guilt’s sole purpose is to sound the alarm that you’ve acted out of alignment with your godly nature. He’s the one that is supposed to keep you in line in a sense.
It’s like the Holy Spirit uses him to say “Okay my child, that’s not you now turn back to me”. Guilt can be compared to a caution sign or even a beware there’s a dog sign.
If he’s successful, he’ll make you pay closer attention to your choices which leads you to self-awareness and repentance.
Shame, on the other hand, comes when you spend too much time with guilt. Shame isn’t good because his plan is to enmesh with your thoughts.
Having shame in your life is like having bad company, it will corrupt your character. The longer you listen to him, the deeper you’ll sink into his darkness.
Guilt introduces you to awareness, reflection, and repentance while shame alters your belief system.
Shame’s mission is to introduce you to his friends low self-esteem, pride, negative self-talk, idolatry, and many other enemies that taint your true identity in Christ.
{RELATED POST: How To A Harness Your Ability To Overcome Adversity}
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Where Is Shame Stored In The Body
Shame doesn’t necessarily store himself in the body, but he does influence your central centers.
What you begin to think in your heart is what you believe and eventually become (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). Your entire being is interconnected because you’re a triune just like God.
You are God’s junior. He is the Mind, Idea, and the Expression and you are the embodiment of it all in the physical realm.
You’re a spirit, with a soul, inside of a body.
Every piece of you is connected and psychologists are calling this interconnectedness the mind-body connection.
Shame manifests in areas like the head, chest, and stomach. As humans, we have three brains; the cephalic, cardiac, and enteric brain.
Each of these are the centers of our neural processing that influence our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
Next time you encounter shame, check to see if you’re experiencing any anxiety, discomfort in your gut, muscle tension, increased heart rate and blood pressure, insomnia, night terrors, or tightness in your chest.
Many of these manifestations are an indication that shame needs to be eradicated.
For more on this check out this fascinating post by TalkHealThrive.
5 Practical Tips To Overcome Guilt And Shame
All of the tips will require effort on your part. Guilt and shame will not go away on their own. You have to participate in your own healing.
Remember that God is with you, but more than likely, He is waiting on you and not the other way around.
The tips I will give today are in no particular order, but I have been able to practice each of these to ensure that they work.
Without further a due, here are some practical tips for overcoming guilt and shame:
1. Personalize The Emotions
Proverbs 3:13-14 NIV-Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold (This is an example how God personalized wisdom).
What I tried to do throughout this post is help you to personalize guilt and shame to understand them better.
When you can animate inanimate objects and things, you can better relate the concepts to the world and the many experiences you face.
You never know, God may reveal the person/people who are fueling the fire of guilt and shame in your life.
2. Talk To God About The Emotions
Psalm 37:23 NLT-The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every details of their lives.
God is into the details of your life. Even though we would rather experience constant bliss, true knowledge is found in suffering.
I can be the first to admit that dealing with guilt and shame can be suffering.
Use these experiences to talk to your Source because He wants to help you even if you’ve gotten yourself in an unfortunate situation.
He is not like the rest of the world; your Father is awaiting your return to Him on this side of Heaven.
{RELATED POST: How To Deal With Emotions In A Healthy Way: 5 Biblical Strategies}
Guilt nor shame can tell you who you are. Your identity is in Christ Jesus and in Him your self-esteem is salvaged. If you’re ready to build your self-esteem, click the image down below.
What Does Guilt And Shame Sound Like?
This is a very basic phrase of both guilt and shame. There are more complexities to these emotions, but they will always sound as if you are saying it to yourself.
Remember you are God’s daughter/son. No one can define you, but the Creator. Anything less than what He speaks of you is a lie even the “good” things spoken.
- You made a mistake (guilt)
- You are a mistake (shame)
3. Line Up The Lies With God’s Truth About You
1 John 4:1 ESV-Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Journaling your experiences are a great way to get the lies and the truth on paper. This will require you to be intentional and observant because some lies have a little truth in them.
For example, when Jesus was being tempted by the enemy, the enemy quoted a part of a scripture (See Matthew 4:6 and Psalm 91:9-12).
This shows us how important it is to know the word of God.
In order to overcome anything, we have to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18):
- We must put on truth as a belt buckled around our waist.
- Cover our heart by choosing to live in righteousness.
- Plant our feet in His peace found in the Gospel as our shoes.
- Take the salvation He’s brought as our helmet.
- Use our sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
- Pray in the Spirit every chance we get.
4. Remind Yourself Of Who You Are In Christ
Genesis 1:26 ESV-Then God said, “Let make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
Reminding yourself of who you are in Christ is absolutely necessary for overcoming guilt and shame. One thing about shame is he will try to tell you who you are, but you already have an identity.
Your identity is and will always be in Christ, but you have to decide to embody your godly nature.
{RELATED POST: 15 Tips To Boost Confidence Daily}
5. Know That Love Himself Surrounds You
1 John 4:8 ESV-Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
You are loved because He is Love. Remember you are God’s junior.
Because He is Love; you are loved. Everything about you is designed for love and to love.
Think about it: Everyone is craving and searching for love in this world. What if you could actually believe that you were loved before the foundations of this world?
Because that’s the truth!
Find one scripture that speaks about love and speak it over your life daily.
Scriptures To Overcome Guilt And Shame
God is the Mind, Idea, and the Expression and you are the embodiment of it all in the physical realm.
You’re a spirit, with a soul, inside of a body. Since you came out of the spiritual realm, you have to remember that everything starts and ends there.
Since you are a spirit, you have to fight spiritually. The word of God is your sword.
Use these scriptures to combat guilt and his cousin shame.
Guilt nor shame can tell you who you are. Your identity is in Christ Jesus and in Him your self-esteem is salvaged. If you’re ready to build your self-esteem, click the image down below.
Here Are A Few Scriptures For You:
Romans 3:22-24-This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 12:1-2-Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Psalm 103:11-12-For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
2 Corinthians 3:17-Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Galatians 5:1-It is freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Corinthians 7:10-Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
Get the pdf version of the scriptures HERE.
Guilt and shame. The cousins who will be subdued by God’s children. I hope personalizing these emotions helped you to understand them more. May God bless you!
This post was all about how to overcome guilt and shame.
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Forgiving Yourself: 5 Steps to Forgive Yourself God’s Way
Before You Go…
A quick recap of tips to overcome guilt and shame:
- Personalize the emotions
- Talk to God about the emotions
- Line up the lies with God’s truth about you
- Remind yourself of who you are in Christ
- Know the Love Himself surrounds you
Guilt and shame are like sinister cousins with a sinister plan. Guilt’s purpose is to lead you to repentance. If you allow him to stay longer…he will invite his cousin shame to lie to you about who you are.
Which tip will you implement this week? Let’s chat about it in the comments down below.
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Always remember that you’re destined to win because He got up!
-Devyn Janae
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