Unashamed

2 Timothy 2:15 NIV
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
I love how this verse calls you to be full of integrity as well as to live without a burden of shame. I think sometimes people (including myself) become so wrapped up in what the did wrong that they forget the gospel and that the good news of their salvation. People try so hard to live by the rules when the good news is that they are saved whether or not the follow the rules but rather they are saved by their faith (not works alone). The holy spirit guides us in wisdom so that we may choose the actions that are permissible AND beneficial, but under God's grace we are free of shame even if we do the things that are not beneficial. And Paul is urging Timothy to live like it. If you don't live like you are free then you are communicating to others that your faith is a burden. If you don't live like you are free and speak like you are a failure (when success and salvation don't depend on you), you are communicating that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ isn't powerful enough to save YOU.