Unashamed of our Past

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:20–23, ESV)

Ashamed of Our Past

As a pastor, I regularly come into contact with people ashamed of their past. Many work diligently to hide their past from other people, worried what others may think if they found out. They find creative ways to change the conversation or answer vaguely. They do not want people to know about what happened in their past because they still carry the shame of those actions. 

Sin and Shame

To some degree, Paul says we should expect this. The shameful things of our past are sinful actions; and sinful actions always lead toward death and destruction. So, of course we will be ashamed of actions that resulted in hurting others and ourselves.

Paul wants the Romans to remember their shameful past in order to help them live in the present. He reminds them of their past—a past free from righteousness and enslaved to sin—and asks, “How did that work out for you?” It didn’t work out. Being enslaved to sin only resulted in living a life of which they are ashamed—even after all these years. 

Overcoming Temptation

Being reminded of our shameful past, should help us overcome temptation in our present. When we find ourselves tempted to grab hold of the sins from our past, Paul tells us to remember where those sins led. Remember that these sins led us into death and destruction—they led us into a life of which we are ashamed. Why would we want to go down that route again, paying the same penalties, suffering the same consequences? In the past, sin led us on the path of destruction, it will do it again if we give into its temptation.

The Fruit of the Gospel

The beauty of the gospel is that it frees us from the power of sin and death in our lives: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God…” (Romans 6:22). On the cross, Jesus Christ bore our sin and shame for us. When we look to him in faith, all of our sin and all of our shame is hung on him. It’s gone, and no longer needs to have any bearing or weight in our life. Jesus took it from us—all of it.  

Unashamed of our Past

Like I already mentioned, it is good for us to look back and remember the way our sinful lifestyles resulted in shameful lives. Yet, the shame of our past should no longer control our present or our future. We no longer have to bear the shame of our past. Christ has removed that from us. Christ has set us free from our sin and shame.

This also means we need not hide our shameful past. We can speak to others about it. As we speak about our shameful past, we can help others see that the wages of sin is death. 

We can also speak about our present, showing them that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. By speaking about the way God has set us free from our sin and shame, we can help others find freedom from their sin and shame. 

So, let us not be afraid to speak about our past, nor about the way God has rescued us and given us life. Let us speak of both freely and unashamed.