多年來，我常因過去不敬虔的生活而感到自卑和羞愧，這對我的生活造成許多負面影響。我常擔心萬一過去的事被人發現該怎麼辦？雖然上帝賜我勇氣，邀請一位事工領袖來家裡吃午餐，但我仍害怕別人怎麼看我，想呈現美好的一面。我把屋子打掃得一塵不染，精心烹調三道菜，穿上最好的牛仔褲和襯衫。

這時前院的灑水器開始噴水，我衝上去想關緊噴嘴，哇！一道水柱將我淋得全身濕透。我帶著半濕的頭髮，糊了的妝容，換上休閒褲和T恤⋯⋯這時門鈴響了！我沮喪地向客人坦承自己的心結。這位事工領袖安慰我，她也常因以前的過犯所產生的罪疚而恐懼不安。我們一起禱告之後，她提醒我上帝的僕人都不完美，她歡迎我加入她的事奉團隊。

使徒保羅得著在基督裡的新生命後，他不否認過去的錯誤，也不因此而停止服事上帝（提摩太前書1章12-14節）。因保羅知道耶穌藉著十字架的大工，拯救和改變他這個罪魁。所以，保羅歌頌上帝，並鼓勵人尊榮、順服上帝（15-17節）。

當我們接受上帝的恩典和赦免時，就不受過去的一切所轄制。你我雖不完美卻仍蒙上帝所愛，我們靠著上帝的恩賜服事人，就無需為自己的真面目而羞慚。

For years, feelings of unworthiness and shame over my less-than-godly past had an adverse impact on every aspect of my life. What if others discovered the extent of my blemished reputation? Though God helped me muster up courage to invite a ministry leader to lunch, I strived to seem perfect. I scrubbed my house spotless, whipped up a three-course meal, and donned my best jeans and blouse.

I rushed to turn off the front-yard sprinklers. Twisting the leaking nozzle, I screamed when a gush of water drenched me. With towel-dried hair and smeared makeup, I changed into dry sweat pants and a T-shirt . . . just in time to hear the doorbell. Frustrated, I confessed my morning’s antics and motives. My new friend shared her own battles with fear and insecurity stemming from guilt over past failings. After we prayed, she welcomed me to her team of God’s imperfect servants.

The apostle Paul accepted his new life in Christ, refusing to deny his past or let it stop him from serving the Lord (1 Timothy 1:12­–14). Because Paul knew Jesus’s work on the cross saved and changed him—the worst of sinners—he praised God and encouraged others to honor and obey Him (vv. 15–17).

When we accept God’s grace and forgiveness, we’re freed from our past. Flawed but fiercely loved, we have no reason to be ashamed of our real faces as we serve others with our God-given gifts.