Secret Sins

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Jody Neufeld

He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.        Proverbs 28:13-14 (WEB)

In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 3:2 “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”     Matthew 3:1-2 (WEB)

From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”     Matthew 4:17 (WEB)

Secret sins are those ones that only God and I know about. They are usually sins that I commit in my mind or heart. I think or feel what is inside of me. Is it what I want inside me? NO!

Jesus warns me in Luke 12:24-26 that if I ask and receive the cleaning of my spirit and that home inside of me is emptied of that sin then I need to fill it up with the goodness of the Lord (Philippians 4:8, Galatians 5:22-23). If I do not fill it with the Lord, guess who is going to be prowling around, waiting for an opportunity to move in?

There is also the “garbage in-garbage out” that I have mentioned before. When I was in college, I hung around with a group of people that transformed my language skills to – well, let’s just say it was the lowest common denominator! I would say I could swear like a sailor but I do not want to insult the U.S. Navy! After marriage and children, I did not hang around with people who spoke like that and for 30 years my language became the clean, beautiful speech that Jesus wanted to hear. Then I went to work at a place where I was around that language again. It seems so silly that as a grown-up, educated person that I would be so ‘easily led astray’! It is so important that we be on our guard and not ever take our spiritual health for granted. Who and where you hang – makes a difference!

Repent. How I resented that word. It is so much about P-R-I-D-E! To humble myself and fall to my knees is not a place of humiliation but a place of restoration. Repent is turning away from sin and walking toward where Jesus is. I do not have to plead and beg Jesus to forgive me. He wants to forgive me. It is a simple request, “Please, Jesus, forgive me for _____” and He does. It is not how many prayers or what I do to ‘make up’ for it. I can’t do enough to make up for what Jesus has done. He did (past tense) it. He took my sins that I was (am, will) going to commit and wiped them from the ledger.

I remember the best night of my life. It was the night that I got baptized. Baptism is a sacrament, an outward sign of an inward change. I came up out of that water and it was the best moment. I have never felt so clean and light. I want to live in that Light all of my life. (sigh)

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