Guilt and shame can weigh heavily on our hearts, shaping how we see ourselves and our relationship with God and others. While guilt acknowledges wrongdoing, shame attacks our identity, making us believe we are unworthy of love and forgiveness. Left unexamined, these burdens keep us stuck in cycles of hiding, striving, and self-condemnation.

In this episode, we’re joined by Lya Camp to explore how examining and confessing guilt and shame leads to true healing and freedom. Together, we unpack the difference between the two, how they distort our view of God and ourselves, and how Christ invites us to walk in the fullness of His grace.

Scripture References for Guilt:

1. 2 Corinthians 7:10 - “For godly grief (sorrow) produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
2. Psalm 103:12 - “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
3. Isaiah 53:5–6 “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
4. Colossians 2:14 “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
5. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit”
6. Romans 5:8-10 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

Scripture References for Shame:

1. Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2. Zephaniah 3:19 “I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth”
3. Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
4. Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

Book References and Other Helpful Podcasts to Consider:

1. "The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Tell About Ourselves" by Dr. Curt Thompson
2. "The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of Hope" by Dr. Curt Thompson
3. The Being Known Podcast, Season 11, "Rupture and Repair"
4. The Place We Find Ourselves Podcast
5. Conversational Counseling Podcast