Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,
a worker who has no need to be ashamed,
rightly handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15

This Bible verse is part of a letter written to Timothy from his mentor, and it’s full of advice and encouragement that can inspire us today. As we pursue lives with more truth and less false apology, with more grace and less shame, this verse reminds us to:

Do your best. Work hard.
Do not be ashamed.
Speak the truth.

When we rely on empty apologies rather than putting in the hard work, when we are embarrassed to accept and live out who God made us to be, when we say we’re sorry when we’re not, we’re not really covering up our problems. We’re creating them.

And when we’re ashamed of ourselves, for reasons that don’t matter or for reasons we’ve already been forgiven, we’re forgetting the most amazing truth of all: that when we confess our sins, God forgives us and washes us clean. Then we no longer have anything to be ashamed of.

So today, let’s simply do our best, stand unashamed, and speak the truth.

This post is part of the 31 Days Writing Challenge. To read all the posts in this series, click here. And to learn more about this challenge or to find more series to read, visit Write31Days.com. Apple photos courtesy of my brother, James.