John 3:19-20
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
From experience I've had the problem of keeping secrets. Dark secrets. Self-gratifying, and self-indulging secrets.
1 John 1:5-10
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
We know that we are to first and foremost confess our sins to God. This confession only comes to God and us, but this is the first step toward walking in the light that brings purity.
No matter if the secret is about an addiction, an abortion, gambling, or any sexual impurity, the are all self-loathing. We feel shame and are embarrassed to tell anyone fearing more shame and embarrassment. But the outcome is the total opposite. Once the truth is exposed into the light and we confess our sins, the blood of Jesus will purify us from all sin.
Luke 23:26
They laid hold upon one Simon . . . and on him they laid the cross.
Oswald Chambers writes,
"If we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean that other people's plans are upset, and they will gibe us with it - "You call this Christianity?" We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid.
Our human pride entrenches itself on this point, and we say - I will never accept anything from anyone. We shall have to, or disobey God. We have no right to expect to be in any other relation than our Lord Himself was in (see Luke 8:2-3).
Stagnation in spiritual life comes when we say we will bear the whole thing ourselves. We cannot. We are so involved in the universal purposes of God that immediately we obey God, others are affected. Are we going to remain loyal in our obedience to God and go through the humiliation of refusing to be independent, or are we going to take the other line and say - I will not cost other people suffering? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but we shall be a grief to our Lord. Whereas if we obey God, He will look after those who have been pressed into the consequences of our obedience. We have simply to obey and to leave all consequences with Him.
Beware of the inclination to dictate to God as to what you will allow to happen if you obey Him."
They may present the appearance of being spiritual people who are knowledgeable about the Bible. And yet, we all know that information is not the same thing as transformation. What these people need to do is to begin to slowly, carefully, expose this hidden life to someone else, using discernment as to "who and when" to approach.
Resource: http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/
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