Living Un-ashamed

I want to apologize for my absence, I made my grand announcement about what I wanted to write on and then disappeared. Partly, my disappearance was because my parents came to visit me, but the main reason is that I wanted to make sure that what I write is coming from a loving heart and a genuine desire to help others in this area.

I started reading Psalm 119 again this month (after receiving a challenge to do so last month) but this time with a new focus: to write the theme (or what spoke to me) in the margin of my Bible for each set of verses. Today, I read verses 1-8 and of coarse God gave me exactly what I needed, not only for my day but also to write this post. In verse 6, which says, “Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” the simple truth I gathered here was this,

“Living life unashamed starts with learning God’s Word.”

If I want to live unashamed, dress unashamed, act unashamed, talk unashamed and eventually stand before God unashamed I must learn God’s Word right now! This really struck a chord with me, knowing that I would be writing for this “mini-series,” and also knowing the shame that comes with being asked to change clothes because my dress was inappropriate. If we would just realize that the answer for all of our problems are found in God’s Word and when we follow God’s commandments then we can live a life unashamed!
Our Pastor has started a series on Sunday Nights called “Learn Christ: Having a Relationship.” It is all about how to read your Bible and how to get something out of it. One of the things he said this past Sunday Night was that you need to focus on reading your Bible… (duh, right?) he continued to say that often we read devotionals, Christian self-help books or commentaries, which are all fine and good, but instead of reading God’s Word for ourselves we are relying on what other men and women have gotten from God’s Word instead. God wants to speak to us. He has a specific message just for us, each and every day, and you won’t get it if your not reading God’s Word for yourself!
I’m raising my hand right here (GUILTY) I often don’t know what to read in the scriptures so I’ve been relying on devotionals to give me direction and food for the day. However, this morning as I was gearing up to start writing this post I went straight to God’s Word and let Him speak directly to me, and lo and behold, God gave me a little nugget, a simple truth that I can claim, that I can learn from, and that I am sharing with you today.

Get in God’s Word, Obey His Commandments, Live Unashamed!

What does this have to do with dress? Get in God’s Word and let Him show you how your supposed to dress! This may sound a little strange, I know it always did to me when my youth pastor’s wife would say it, I would think things like the Bible doesn’t say whether to wear the blue shirt or the red shirt or that I didn’t know there were hem length requirements in scriptures… Those thoughts are mostly true, God doesn’t give us thou shalts and thou shalt nots when it comes to dress but He does give us principles on modesty. God’s Word tells us how we can live a life unashamed.
Ever go somewhere and know you shirt is too low or your skirt is too short so you start pulling on it to get it at least close to where its supposed to be? (My hand is raised, again) This is a form of shame and my futile effort to cover the shame I bear. Don’t live like that! Go to the scriptures with an honest, open heart, wanting to learn and God will show you areas that need change, but then you must make the choice to change, to live and dress unashamed.
Now the promise, when I learn God’s Word, when I am living in accordance with God’s Word then (verse 7) “I will praise thee (God) with uprightness of heart,” (!!!) Praising God “with uprightness of heart” comes from having nothing between myself and God. It is saying I am unashamed… Beautifully unashamed!
The next post in this series will cover just that (Lord willing), Beauty and the Lie we’ve bought. Thank you so much for reading this post, you all have been such an encouragement offering advice and things to think about as I’m working on this little series. I hope that you will continue to pray for me and with me as I work on this subject and if you have any more suggestions that may be a help I hope you will e-mail them to me or leave a comment for all to see and gain help as well.
Now go live Unashamed!
~Bex