Good shame, bad shame

John Elderedge (in The Utter Relief of Holiness) has a simple test as to whether the sense of self-reproach, or 'conviction of sin' to use an old-fashioned term, is a good thing or a bad thing. Does it drive you towards God or away? There is a difference between the sense of unworthiness which leads to forgiveness and restoration and the sense of unworthiness which leads to misery and self-loathing.

I immediately thought of Simon Peter's reaction to Jesus at the large catch of fish - "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:8) By the above criteria this was a bad kind of shame he was feeling. But then I remembered the first part of that verse - "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said..." Given that actions speak louder than words I think Simon was feeling the right kind of shame after all - the kind which drove him to seek Jesus and be transformed.