I am unashamed / I won't hide Your name, Jesus / So all the world will know / that You / You're all that I live for / Jesus / I am unashamed

What does it mean to be unashamed? The dictionary defines the word unashamed as "expressed or acting openly and without guilt or embarrassment." We can be unashamed about numerous things in life: personality, looks, family, but most importantly, we are to be unashamed of our faith. As Christians, we are called to live a life that is unashamed for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After all, He is the One who bore our sin, our guilt, our embarrassment, and our shame to the Cross so that we wouldn't have to. I am continually in awe of how Jesus blamelessly took our blame. Why would He do this? Because He loves us. He isn't ashamed of us. So because of this, we should be unashamed of being a Christian and making His name great.

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Over the past several weeks, I have had the opportunity to go on two trips with my church's youth group to Tennessee and South Carolina. To see these teenagers worship Jesus is something I will never forget and always cherish. Watching them grow closer to our precious Savior and choose to live unashamed was extremely eye-opening. The theme at both of these camps was "Unashamed," and we learned what it means to truly live an unashamed life for Christ.

Each day, we discovered ways to be unashamed. We learned five ways to be unashamed of the gospel of Christ: know it, embrace it, live it, share it, and trust it. By the end of the week, I can proudly say that I am unashamed of the Gospel of Christ.My prayer is that you, too, will want to live for the only One who can set the captives free!

The first step in living a life that is unashamed of the Gospel is to know the Gospel. The Gospel is often referred to as the "Good News," but in order to understand the good news, we must realize that the Gospel's good news is most powerful in light of the bad news that comes before it. Romans 3:23-24 states this:"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

You see, before Christ came to save us from all of our sin and shortcomings, no one was seeking after God.

How can the men and women God created to praise Him completely reject Him and give Him zero time of day?

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that HE had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!" -Ephesians 2:4-5.

Now that's the good news I want to hear! We are dead without Him. When we take a look at how easily we take Christ for granted, it is extremely convicting. To know that I take Him for granted is something I am very ashamed of, but I can tell you this: I am unashamed of Christ!

We also learned that we must embrace the Gospel. To embrace something or someone means to "accept or support (a belief, theory, or change) willingly and enthusiastically." As Christians, we are called to embrace Christ, because after all, He embraces us. He accepts us just as we are -- baggage and all. Not only does He accept us, He loves us, desires us, and pursues us.

"But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" -Romans 5:8.

This is one of my all-time favorite verses of scripture in the Bible because it means that while I was dead in my sin, Christ saw something in me that was worth dying for. When we go our own way in life and are engulfed in sin, Christ doesn't leave us there. He picks us up right where we are and transforms us into the children of God we were created to be.

In order to be embraced by the Gospel, we must be living according to the Holy Spirit that lives inside us. Romans 8:13 puts it this way: "For if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

Simply put, the ways of this world are coming to an end, but the ways of the Word lead to eternal and abundant life in Christ. I don't know about you, but I want to live forever with the One who died for me!

One of the most important ways to be unashamed of the Gospel is to live the Gospel. The world is full of lies telling us that we have to weigh a certain amount or buy certain clothes in order to be accepted, but God calls us to come as we are: broken, lost, guilty, ashamed, depressed, hopeful, and the list goes on. In the book of Romans, Paul tells us to stand firm in our faith in this way:

"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." -Romans 12:2.

Christ has brought us from death and given us the free gift of life! It is ours for the taking. All we have to do is live it.

Another way we learned to live unashamed is to share the Gospel. This past week, I was placed at a park to evangelize. While I was serving, I learned that you don't have to speak to people in order to tell them about Jesus. If you are a Christian, people should be able to see the light of Christ living inside of you! Evangelizing can be in any form: serving others, giving a helping hand, or communicating. One of my favorite ways to evangelize is to write words of encouragement with Bible verses written on them.

"My aim is to evangelize where Christ has not been named." -Romans 15:20

This verse has become one that means a great deal to me because sharing the Gospel is so simple if you think about it. All we have to do is shine His light!

Lastly, we learned to trust the Gospel. One of the hardest things for me to do is trust people. I am not saying I don't trust anyone, but this world is coming to be a place where it is hard to believe or trust anyone. However, in the midst of all the mistrust in this world, I know for a fact that there is One who I can trust with my entire life: Jesus Christ.

"Now the Scripture says, everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame." -Romans 11:11

Wow! This verse sums up everything I could possibly say in this article. If we believe in Him, He will not be ashamed of us. We have no reason to deny Jesus or be ashamed of Him. He has done far too much for us to deny Him.

"But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in Heaven." -Matthew 10:33

I know I can proudly say that there is no denying that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. This past week has been an incredible one to say the least. I have experienced God in ways that I have never before. To see Him move in the lives of those at the mission sites lights a fire in my heart to continue to spread His Word until everyone knows about His good works!

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." -Romans 1:16.