August 27 – Secret Sins (Psalm 90:8)

“Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!”
(Proverbs 9:17)

IN WORD:
The truest measure of our spiritual maturity is always found in private moments. When no one is looking, how pure are our eyes? When we are alone, how honest are our prayers? When there is no threat of being contradicted, how accurate are our words? The secret life is the true life. It is who we are before God. He sees all.
Fallen human nature has a universal tendency: We are more concerned with our reputation among others than we are with our standing before God. We do not want friends or strangers to know our deepest secrets, but we have no embarrassment about them with God. Is it because we know He sees and understands? Perhaps so. But when sin is involved, His holy eyes are more grieved than those of any stranger. Yet we fear the stranger more.
That is why Jesus spent a lot of time encouraging His disciples to guard the integrity of their secret life. Their spirituality was to be most honestly lived behind closed doors — the prayer closet, the fasting schedule, the hand that gives tithes and offerings. These are the signs that maturity is real and not just for show. But this is the secrecy we save for our sins.
It is natural for us to keep our sins in darkness and to show off our spirituality. But God doesn’t ask for what comes naturally; He calls for the opposite. We are to expose our sins — confess them to Him and others — and to be humble in our disciplines of the Spirit. Faith will show itself in works, but it will never show off. Sin, on the other hand, will hide itself from others, but it can never hide from God.

IN DEED:
If you are like most, your reputation is sacred to you. You guard it well. But which matters more — your reputation in the world or your reputation with God? The opinion that counts the most is His, and God’s assessment of our secret sins is graver than we thought. Live transparently before Him. Confess them all in naked, heartfelt honesty. Let Him shine in your dark corners.

“It may be a secret sin on earth, but it is an open scandal in heaven.” -Lewis Sherry Chafer-