- Have you seen “Top Gun Maverick”? If so, what did you think? And if not, why not, and what is one of the last movies you’ve seen?
- Looking back to your childhood, can you think of a time when you did something wrong and felt guilty about it? What happened?
- Consider this statement about guilt and shame: "The difference between guilt and shame is very clear in theory. We feel guilty for what we do; we feel shame for what we are. A person feels guilt because he did something wrong. A person feels shame because he is something wrong." How would you explain the difference between guilt and shame?
- Is there a time, either in your childhood or recently, when you have felt shame? How did that feel different than guilt? What was that like?
- Read 1 Timothy 1:12-17. What did Paul, the writer, do to make him say he is the “worst of sinners”?
- Even though Paul was “the worst of sinners,” what does he say happened to him? What did he receive from Jesus?
- Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. How does this verse relate to what Paul described in 1 Timothy 1:12-17? And how do these two passages relate to us?
- What does God offer us when we feel stuck or burdened with shame, and how can we receive it?
Next Steps (as a group or individually)
With shame, we can be holding onto a label: a failure, a sin, a struggle, a mistake, or even something that has been done to or against us. Consider writing down your label(s) on a piece of paper, then crossing them out and writing a new one that corresponds to how God sees you, through Jesus.