No shame

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..." Romans 1:16(ESV)

What does it mean to be ashamed of the gospel? I most often associate shame with mistakes I've made; with regrets about past decisions. In the NT shame is mentioned a number of times. In Mark 8 Jesus calls his disciples to give up their lives for His sake and the gospel, or else be ashamed of Him. Paul mentions suffering in 1 Corinthians 4 and Philippians 1 in admonishing believers to not be ashamed of suffering, but to embrace it for the glory of God. In 2 Timothy 2 He encourages Timothy to not be ashamed in handling the word of truth. When I consider these passages, I wonder how many times I've been ashamed:

-when I've chosen comfort over commitment

-when I've chosen to appease people rather than tell the hard truth

-when I've listened to conversations that clearly were not grounded in gospel truth and said nothing

-when I've been tempted to handle sin on my own instead of by the Spirit

-when I pray small prayers because I'm consumed with contentment


To not be ashamed of the gospel means that whatever circumstance I find myself in, I consider Jesus to be worth it. It means not caring what happens to me in this life because I get God himself and not just gifts from Him. It means that what the world sees as shameful, I see as powerful. Weakness, suffering, criticism, etc, when experienced for the sake of the gospel, is never to be shamed.

What about you? Do you find that you're ashamed of things which the scriptures say to not be ashamed of? Please leave a comment.