I was born this way (1Cor 6:11)

Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1Cor 6:11)

We all have issues with the way we were born. That’s why Jesus said that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)

“Such were some of you”. Yet something happened to you, so that you’re not defined by your past sins and inclinations any more.

You were washed. You’re not dirty anymore. Your past sins no longer defile you. There is no need for you to feel dirty, because God has washed your old dirt away.

You are sanctified. That means you are in a process of becoming more and more holy. Gradually those sins become less appealing to you. And in place of the inclination to sin you’ll find an increasingly strong inclination toward serving and obeying God.

You were justified. That is a legal term, which means you are declared not guilty. Yes, you have sinned, but Jesus took on himself the guilt for your sin. He took the punishment that belonged to you. Jesus was punished to the full extent of your guilt. Now you’re free to go. No punishment, no grudges. Your guilt is erased, and your record is clean. It is just as if you had never committed those sins in the first place.

I know many of us have things in our pasts that we are deeply ashamed of. But if you have been born again, let these truths penetrate the way you think about those sins. There’s no need to feel dirty. There’s no need to hide your guilt, or to explain yourself, or justify yourself. Doing that only serves to hold on to what you were, and hinder you in what you now are.

Let it go!