Mental Health: Bible Verses on Shame

Shame is a feeling of guilt, low self-esteem, or disappointment. As some of these verses show, it can be appropriate to feel shame over sin, if it leads to change. But God does not want his people to live in shame over past mistakes that have already been forgiven. He also does not want them to feel ashamed or foolish for trusting in him, because he will not let them down.

Matthew 12:7 "But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you wouldn’t have condemned the guiltless."

Luke 9:26 "For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels."

Psalm 25:2-3 "My God, I have trusted in you. Don’t let me be shamed. Don’t let my enemies triumph over me. Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed. They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause."

Psalm 31:16-17 KJV "Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave."

Psalm 34:5 "They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame."

Psalm 37:18-19 KJV "The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied."

Psalm 40:14-15 "Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt. Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, 'Aha! Aha!'"

Psalm 69:6 "Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord Yahweh of Armies. Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel."

Psalm 71:1, 24 KJV "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion...my tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt."

Psalm 119:78-80 KJV "Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies. Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed."

Isaiah 54:4-5 "Don’t be afraid, for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth. You will remember the reproach of your widowhood no more. For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth."

Joel 1:11-13 KJV "Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished...Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God."

Joel 2:26-27 KJV "And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed." Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek."

Romans 5:5 KJV "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

2 Corinthians 4:2 "But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God."

Ephesians 5:11-12 "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret."

2 Timothy 1:12 "For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed to him against that day."

Hebrews 2:11 "For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brothers."

*Unless otherwise noted, I use the World English Bible, because it is a free, public domain translation. Feel free to look up these verses in your preferred translation! These lists are in no way comprehensive, and I am in no way an expert. These are simply passages I have found helpful in personal study.*

Nicole Jackson-Ozment