Welcome back to the Self-Love Journaling with God podcast. I am your host, Shonda, and I am so grateful you are here with me today. This podcast is about more than just journaling. It's about doing the heart work with God as we heal, grow, and learn to love ourselves the way God does. One journaling page and one prayer at a time. And so, my sister, this is part five, our final episode from our shame series. And so, just a recap of what we have talked about over these last five episodes. In this series, we have been uncovering shame at its deepest from all different types of angles. In episode one, we talked about the difference between shame and conviction. Episode two, we went on and talked about how shame tries to name you with labels God never gave you. And then in episode three, we talked about how shame can make you hide. And in episode four, we talked about five ways shame can quietly steal your confidence. But today we are coming to one of the most healing truths in this whole series. Jesus did not just forgive sin, he also carried shame. Let's go deeper on this. Because a lot of women know in their minds that God forgives them, but in their hearts they are still carrying humiliation, regret, embarrassment, old labels, and private pain, like it still belongs to them. So today we're talking about what it means that Jesus carried shame at the cross and how that truth can help you stop wearing what he already bore. So some women are not just carrying pain, they're carrying a private sense of shame. Let me go into this a little deeper. Not always because of one huge event though, sometimes because of a hundred smaller things like what happened to you, what you regret, what did not work out, what somebody said about you, what you still replay, what you wish was not part of your story, what still makes you feel exposed when you think about it too long. And shame has a way of tuning all of that into a burden you carry in silence. And it says, Don't bring that up. Don't let people know that part of your story is too messy. You should be past this by now. If you were stronger, this would not still affect you. That's what shame does. But my sister, one of the most beautiful truths of the gospel is this. Jesus is not uncomfortable with the part of your story and my story that still feels tender or sensitive, embarrassing, or marked. He went straight to shame. So now I want you to take a slow breath in here and let it out and let this question settle in your heart. What if I have been carrying something Jesus already made room for at the cross? Think about that. Because that question can change everything. So let's go to the cross. When Jesus went to the cross, he did not only suffer physically, he was mocked, he was rejected, stripped, exposed, publicly humiliated. Now in Hebrews, the twelfth chapter, the second verse, and it says, Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. I want you to notice those words. Despising the shame. That means shame was part of what he endured. Not just pain, not just suffering, not just rejection, but shame too. Jesus knew what it meant to be exposed. He knew what it meant to be misunderstood, and he knew what it meant to be publicly dishonored. A short personal moment here. There have been times when I knew God loved me, but I still struggle with the sting of parts of my story I wish wasn't even there or wish was different. Not because I doubted his love, but because shame could cling in quiet ways. And sometimes you can be walking with God and still be learning how to stop caring what Jesus already made room for. So my sister, that learning is real and it is holy work. And that is why this matters. Because Jesus did not go to the cross unfamiliar with shame. He went there knowing exactly what shame feels like and still chose love. So let's define this word here, carry. Now just in plain English, to carry something means to hold it, to bear the weight of it, and take it with you. And that is what many of us women do with shame. We carry it into conversations, carry it into prayer, our relationships, into opportunities, into the mirror. We carry it into our self-talk, how we talk to ourselves. We carry it into how we see our future. So when we say Jesus carries shame, we mean he bore the weight of what was crushing you and me so it would no longer have the final authority over our identity. That is huge because shame says keep holding this, keep wearing this, keep dragging this around. This belongs to you now. But the cross says you do not have to keep carrying what Jesus already bore. And this connects so naturally to the last episode, episode four. Because if shame has been stealing your confidence in quiet, everyday ways, this is why. Shame weighs confidence down. Shame makes you brace, it makes you hesitate, it makes you second guess, and it makes you feel marked. But when you begin to understand that Jesus carried that shame at the cross, it gives you permission to stop treating shame like something you have to keep wearing forever. So let's go to our anchor scripture here. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. Hebrews 12 2. Let's make that simple. Jesus did not agree with shame. He did not bow to shame. He did not let shame define him. He endured through it and overcame it. So when shame tries to cling to you, Hebrews 12 2 reminds you, Jesus has already gone ahead of you in that place. He has already dealt with shame at the cross. So let's draw some perspective that I think is really powerful here. Shame stays heavy when it is carried in isolation. I hope you heard that. That is one reason shame can feel so strong. Because isolated pain often starts to feel permanent. When something hurts or embarrasses or marks you deeply, you keep carrying it alone. Your mind can start to build a whole identity around that shame. You do not just remember the event, you start relating to yourself through the event. And that is where shame gets sticky. It attaches meaning to the wound. This proves something is wrong with me. This means I'll always be this way. This means I can't fully move forward. It attaches meaning to the wound. But compassionate truth loosens the shame. Not pretending, not excusing, not minimizing. Truth. And the cross is compassionate truth. The cross says, yes, pain is real. Yes, wounds are real. Yes, regret is real, but none of it gets to outrank what Jesus finished. So what is God saying about this? God does not say figure out your shame, then come to me. He says, in effect, bring it here, bring the regret here, bring the memory here, bring the wound here, bring the humiliation, the false label, bring it to the cross. God says you are not abandoned in your shame. God says your life can still be covered in grace. God says your hardest chapter is not stronger than redemption. God says what happened to you or what you did is not greater than what Jesus finished. And so my sister, that matters because many women are trying to outwork shame, outrun shame, or overthink shame. But freedom comes when you start surrendering, when we start surrendering it to Jesus instead of rehearsing it by yourself. So why does this matter for our self-love journey? Because if you believe Jesus forgives sin, but you still live like shame gets to sit on your chest forever, you will live half free. You will love God, but still punish yourself. You'll pray, but still feel stained. You'll keep growing, but still feel marked. You'll want confidence, but still carry inner heaviness. You'll want peace, but still brace around old pain. Biblical self-love means you start agreeing with the full work of Christ. Not just he forgives me, but also he carried what was crushing me. That changes how you speak to yourself, how you interpret your story, how you move forward. Because you stop seeing yourself only through what hurt you, what embarrassed you, or what you regret. You start seeing yourself through the finished work of Christ. So what does this look like in real life? It means when shame rises up, and it will sometimes, you do not just automatically accept it as true. And instead of spiraling, you ask, did Jesus carry this or not? That's a good question to ask yourself. Did Jesus carry this or not? This is a powerful question. Because if Jesus carried shame, then you do not have to keep wearing it like it is your permanent identity. For example, maybe you remember a relationship you stayed in too long. Shame says you were foolish. You should still feel embarrassed. But truth says, yes, that season was painful. Yes, I can learn from it. But Jesus carried shame at the cross. I do not have to keep introducing myself through that chapter. Or maybe you think about something somebody did to you. Shame says this, you are marked by this. But here's what truth says. What happened to me matters, but it does not get to become my identity. Jesus carries shame. My story is still redeemable. Or maybe you think about how long healing has taken. Shame says you should be further by now. But truth says, my pace does not cancel God's grace. Jesus carries shame. I do not have to be ashamed of being in process. So, my friend, that is not denial. That is surrender. That is redemption thinking. That is healing in motion. And this is where journaling becomes our holy, our sacred space. Because sometimes you need to write the shame down so you can stop carrying it around like it belongs in your body, your mind, and your identity forever. So I want you to grab your journal, take a deep breath, loosen your shoulders, and let this be a tender, honest moment here with God. So at the top of your page, I want you to write this Jesus, what shame am I still carrying like it belongs to me? Now, here is your one clear journaling prompt. What shame am I still carrying? And what would it sound like to place it at the cross instead of continuing to wear it? Think about that. And let me give you an example of how it would sound to respond to that prompt. I am still carrying shame about how long it took me to leave something unhealthy. Placing it at the cross would sound like Jesus, I give you this burden that keeps telling me I should still be embarrassed. Thank you that I can learn from that season without living under it. So write down what God is showing you. Name the shame clearly. Write what it says, write where it shows up. Then answer it with the cross. And here is the healthy perspective I want to leave with you while you write. You do not have to keep carrying what Jesus already carried. So this week I want to give you a practical process called three steps to lay it down. Because sometimes people say, just give it to God, and you're like, okay, but how? So here are three meaningful practical steps I want to kind of go over with you. The first step into laying it down is to name the shame clearly. You cannot lay down what you keep speaking around. So be specific. Not just I feel bad, not just I'm struggling, name it. I feel shame about this relationship. I feel shame about my past. I feel shame about my body. I feel shame about how long healing is taking. I feel shame about this mistake. I want you to write one sentence a day this week that starts with the shame I am noticing today is. And this matters because clarity breaks some of shame's power. It breaks it out of the fog. And here's step two. In step one, we said name the shame clearly. You cannot lay down what you keep speaking around. Step two is hand it to Jesus in prayer. Once you name it, do not just stare at it. Pray it and keep the prayer simple. You might say, Jesus, this is the shame I have been carrying. You already made room for this at the cross. I do not want to keep wearing what you already bore. I hand this to you again. And actually, you can add on the scripture to that to stand on which we were talking about Hebrews 12, too. You can actually use that. And then I want you to put your hand over your heart, take one slow breath, and say that prayer out loud if you can. And so this matters because surrender becomes more real when you actually voice it instead of just thinking about it. And step three, replace it with truth on purpose. Laying it down is not only release, it is also replacement. Because if you do not replace shame with truth, your mind will try to pick it back up. So after you pray, speak a truth from God's word, replace it, replace that shame, replace those thoughts. And so we've already been talking about Hebrews 12, 2, which says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, then say, Jesus carries shame, I do not have to keep wearing it. And that is how you're going to replace it with truth on purpose intentionally. And so I want you to write your truth statement on a sticky note in your phone or at the top of your journal page and repeat it when shame rises again. And so this matters because release is often a repeated practice, not a one-time feeling. So you want to repeat this on a regular. So our three steps to lay it down is first we're going to name the shame clearly. We're going to hand it to Jesus in prayer, and we're going to replace it with truth on purpose. So here's an example of what that might look like. Let's say an old embarrassing memory hits you at night. And so, for your first step and naming it, it might sound like this. I feel shame about how I handled that season. And in handing it to Jesus, you might write, Jesus, I give you this shame again. I do not want to keep carrying what you already bore. And then to replace it, you might write, Hebrews 12, 2, reminds me that Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame. I do not have to keep wearing this. That is what laying it down can look like in real life. So I want to go over our declaration for the week. And so it might sound like this. I want you to hear this and repeat this. Jesus carried my shame at the cross. I do not have to keep wearing what he already bore. I am not marked by shame. I am covered by grace, and I can move forward in truth. Let's say that one more time. Jesus carried my shame at the cross. I do not have to keep wearing what he already bore. I am not marked by shame. I am covered by grace. I can move and I can move forward in truth. This is a strong declaration for mornings, journaling time, or moments when old memories try to rise up again. And so, my sister, as we close out this series on shame, I want to remind you of something deeply important. Jesus is not asking you to pretend you were never hurt, never embarrassed, never disappointed, never messy, and never wrong. He is inviting us to stop letting those things define who we are. That has really been the heart of this whole series. We talked about how shame is different from conviction. We talked about how shame tries to name you with labels God never gave you. We talked about how shame makes you high, how it quietly steals your confidence, and how Jesus carried shame at the cross so you do not have to keep wearing it. And so, my sister, that is the takeaway. I hope stays with you. Shame may have affected your story, but it does not get to author your identity. Jesus does. So if this series felt tender, sensitive, emotional, or stretching, that makes sense. This has been deep work, holy work, healing work. And I just want to say I am so proud of you for staying with it. Proud of you for listening, for reflecting. Proud of you for being willing to look at the places shame has tried to sit in your life and say, you do not get to live here anymore. As we close this series, my prayer is that you do not just leave with more awareness of shame, but with more courage to return to God, to return to grace, to return to the woman he is healing, growing, and restoring. Because shame does not get the final word over your life. Jesus does. And before we close, I just want to pray over every place where shame has been clinging to your heart like it still has rights there. So, Father God, I just pray over my sisters right now. You know every place where shame has wrapped itself around her thoughts, her memories, and the way she sees herself. Thank you that your word says Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame. Help her stop carrying what you already bore. Teach her to lay it down, receive your grace, and move forward in truth. Cover her with peace, strengthen her heart, and remind her that shame is not her name. In Jesus' name, amen. Alright, my sister, before you hop off, if you are in a healing season right now, working on self-love or learning how to journal with God, go ahead and follow this podcast so you don't have to hunt for it every time. And if you want a little weekly boost, like journaling tips, faith field encouragement, and a gentle, you're not alone, in your inbox, come join my self-love journal newsletter. It really is like a warm note from me to you. And if you are craving community, women who get it and are doing this hard work in real life, come hang out with us in the Self-Love Journaling with God Circle on school.com. Check the show notes to stay connected. All the links are waiting for you right there. Thank you for spending this time with me. Remember, every open journal is an invitation for God to move. Until next time, keep rising, keep journaling, and keep becoming who God made you to be.