Proclaimed from the Housetops
Oct 5, 2010 Sacrificial Followers
Jesus made this most remarkable statement:
Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. – Luke 12:2–3
Let that settle in for a minute.
At Riv, we’ve been going through a series on sins that we consider to be “Not That Bad.” There’s one sin I am not going to have time to hit on so I decided to do a little blog post on it instead:
It’s your Secret Sin.
You know the one. It’s the one you won’t tell anyone about but you continue to struggle with day after day. You think it’s better to hide it than to let it be known. Well, the truth is one day your sin will be known.
Michael Garrett explains how this could happen in a moment:
We don’t wake up one morning and say, gee I think I am going to die today, so let me get prepared. When this does happen, your death, your family will be going through all of your things. Your wife, your kids, maybe even some of your friends who are trying to help your wife cope with your death. They are going to go through your wallet, your cell phone, your bank accounts, all the files in your office or your “space” and your computer. They will see all your files, where you visited on the internet and EVERYTHING.
Secret sins never stay a secret forever. They may be found out in this life time or in the next, but they will be found out.
I have a past that is pretty messed up in a lot of ways. Having grown up in the Lansing area (and having never left the area), there are more and more people who show up around Riv who “knew me when.” They know who I was. My present life continues to be filled with temptations and struggle. Just like everyone else, I have pet sins that continually press in on my life and if I leave them unchecked, they will wreck me.
I’m sure the future will be no different. Like the Apostle Paul, I consider myself to be the “foremost of Sinners.”
That’s why I can’t let my temptations and those times I succumb to temptations remain a secret. Those very things I desire to keep secret are the very things I need help with. And you are just like me.
So let’s commit to dealing with our secret sins the same way we have been dealing with all the sins we have been talking about during this series:
Name Your Sin
Call it what it is: a sin. It’s a big deal and you can’t hide it anymore.
Apply the Gospel
Remember that Jesus died for that sin, he nailed it to the cross. If you are a Christian, he has already dealt with the eternal consequences for it, even though there may still be some earthly consequences. If you are not a Christian yet, Jesus offers you forgiveness if you will just turn toward him and away from your sin.
Apply the Word
Do a little Bible search to find some verses about the sin you are dealing with and memorize them.
Apply your Team
This the hard one. Come out of hiding and tell someone about your sin. There are people in my life who know all my dirty little secrets. There are people in my life that I call when I am facing some sort of strong temptation. You need people like that.
Apply Prayer
Along with your team, pray. Confess your sin to God and pray that he will help you to deal with it through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Tags: forgiveness, repentance, secrets, sin
I’m Sorry
Oct 12, 2009 Uncategorized Hodge Podge
Last week was an interesting week for me for a lot of reasons.
One of those (because I don’t want to bore you with all of them) was I found myself apologizing a lot. I mean it…a lot. Every apology was for something I said or the way I said it. In case you didn’t know this about me, I kind of have a big mouth and I found many ways to stick my foot in it last week.
So I made a lot of phone calls to say sorry to lots of people.
It’s humbling to apologize, but it’s amazing how much weight is lifted from your shoulders when you utter those nine simple words:
“I was wrong. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”
Tough question time. When was the last time you said those words to anyone?
If apologizing is hard for you, here’s an awesome article on How to Apologize for Your Mistakes.
Tags: apology, forgiveness
