Only As Sick As Our Secrets

 

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1st John 1:9 ESV

Ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, humanity has been covered by guilt and shame. God has done everything He can to cleanse us of this plague that falls on humanity. His greatest gift to us was giving over His Son, Jesus Christ, to be beaten and put to death on our behalf. All for the forgiveness of our sins. Your sins. My sins. There is no other "deity" in human history that does that, but God does. He pays the highest price for something that is inherently unlovable, unworthy, and undesirable.

But beyond cleansing our shame by giving Himself over to death on the cross, God, through that sacrifice, adopted us into His family. He made us spiritually rich men and women, all with one act of ultimate sacrifice. He gave us the strength to do things that we could never hope to do on our own. He exchanged our old nature for something new and ultimately improved. And in all these things, He chose us to be involved in His work. He doesn't need me to write this blog because he would get someone else to do it if I didn't. But I have one thing, a question really, that plagues me...Knowing that God did and did all these things, why do I allow myself to think that I should live my life out in some shame?

The lie of God being some High and Mighty potentate that sits around wanting to shame and punish us is one of the oldest tools of our enemy. He will pull it out when we least expect it and most of the time when we are at our weakest point. It is his go-to move. But we can overcome the slings and arrows of the enemy. All we have to do is confess to God who we are and tell our enemy who it is that we belong to.

Scripture tells me in James 5:16 that we are to "confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed." If we can't be honest with each other about the dark and dirty stuff we carry in our hearts, then our enemy will keep us bound in the chains of self-condemnation and shame and seriously hamper our ability to be effective for God. I once read a quote by Richard Foster that said, "The disciplines of confession brings an end to pretense. God is calling us into being a church that can openly confess its frail humanity and know the forgiving and empowering graces of Jesus Christ."

"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy." Proverbs 28:13 ESV

I have heard it said that we are "only as sick as our secrets." And to overcome the shame in my life, I have to stop hiding and quit trying to cover it up. I have to be courageous enough to share my struggles and let the grace and support of those around me help me heal. The same applies to every single human being on the planet. I haven't figured "it" out, but I have realized that I don't have to be perfect, and I don't have to be ashamed of my past. God covered it. All of it. The dark and dirty past that I lived through and rolled around in like a pig in mud, God has washed away and forgiven. My enemy can bring it up, but I have the power, through the Holy Spirit, to tell him that I am not subject to those things anymore. And if you are saved in Christ, neither do you.

God is not out to get you in the way the enemy would have you believe. He came to set us free from shame, cleanse us with His love and grace, reinstates us into His family, and make us part of His work.

"For a good confession, three things are necessary: an examination of conscience, sorrow, and a determination to avoid sin." ~Saint Alphonsus Liguori