Shame can be like a weight that drags you down, and a real barrier to your relationship with God. It can leave you feeling unworthy to approach Him and force you to remain distant.
But whatever the cause of your shame, God wants you to help you overcome it. He wants to you to live in the freedom of grace, not the shackles of shame.
Here are 10 Bible verses to help you remember that nothing you've done is beyond Christ's redemption.
Romans 8.1-4: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
1 John 9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Acts 2.38: "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost'."
Psalm 32.5: "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.' And you forgave the guilt of my sin."
John 8.36: "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
Colossians 3.13: "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."
Isaiah 1.18 "Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
Luke 5.32: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Hebrews 10.22: "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."
Hebrews 9.14-15: "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."
