A blog where women are inspired and encouraged to grow in their relationship with Christ.

Monday, March 18, 2013

My Secret Sin



Psalm 90:8

One of satan’s subtle deceptions is convincing us that 
we can do things in secret and they will never be revealed or discovered.   
The word of God says that everything done in darkness will one day be exposed to the light.

 "For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor 
anything hidden that will  not be known and come to light."  Luke 8:17 


door paint remover/sin
Last summer I stripped off over 120 years of bubbled-up stain and paint from our front door.  It was a time-consuming, sloppy, gooey, messy, yucky job.  The paint stripper that I used was so strong that it ate through four pair of thick rubber gloves and then started on my fingers!

It took me a week of bending over that door, slathering on the solution, waiting for it to curl up, and then scraping off the gook.  Layer after messy layer was revealed. So many colors of paint... white, dark green, light green, brown, black, burgundy, pink, and several layers of dark stain.  Layers that hadn't seen the light of day in decades!
 
door paint remover/sin Lately, God’s been showing me that, oh yes; I closely resemble our old door.  I’ve had secret sins layered deep in my heart.  No one sees them; they’re nicely painted over with a pleasant color/smile.  Our Abba’s been busy pouring, slathering, waiting, pealing, and stripping... it’s been a painful process.  
Scrape!  There goes a layer revealing unbelief 
Swipe!  There goes a layer revealing stubbornness.  
Scrape!  There goes another layer revealing pride and  self-reliance.


I’ve found that choosing to live life with secret sin has kept me bound in fear of man and God.  
The process of bringing light to the darkness has been painful, humbling, 
revelatory and oh so liberating.

Psalm 90:8Here are a few additional areas of sin that are easy to keep secret. Perhaps some are layered deep in your heart...

"But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin.  You are guilty of breaking the law."  James 2:9 {NLT}

"When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ."  1 Corinthians 8:12 {NIV}
 
"It's criminal to ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor-what a blessing!"  
Proverbs 14:21 {Message}

Add to those: bitterness, jealousy, pornography, unforgiveness, hypocrisy, and thinking ourselves above another.  We're capable and perhaps quite skilled at keeping our sin a secret from others... but never from Christ.

Psalm 32:5
I’m so thankful that even the “intention of our heart” is forgiven when we repent!
“Repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you” Acts 8:22
Isn’t it awesome that as we confess our sins to the Lord, He forgives us and strips away our false righteousness?  
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous 
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. 1 John 1:9

Thank you Lord for the peace, joy, and freedom that comes with secret sin revealed, repentance, and cleanse-me-white-as-snow forgiveness.  
I'm so grateful...

Has God been making some changes in you?
I'd love to hear about them.
Leave a comment!
 Living in His grace, 
Mary

36 comments:

  1. This post really blessed me! And wow the work you did! Amazing!!

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    1. Hi Ashley! I'm so glad you were blessed. This door became my nemesis!:) I was so relieved when I finally finished it!
      Blessings to you, dear friend ~ Mary

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  2. Mary,

    Thank you for this precious reminder. I love the weightless feeling that comes when we lay our souls bare before the Lord stripped of all the yuck of our sin. Forgiveness and repentance are truly wonderful feelings!

    Wish I could have helped you strip that door. I LOVE those addicting, "gotta conquer it" type projects!

    Beth Ann

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    1. Oh Beth Ann, being forgiven of our wretched confessed sin truly does give a weight-lifted, thoroughly cleansed feeling... love it!
      I wish you could have helped strip that door, too! The next time I embark on a project, I'll give you a call! :)
      Blessings and much love ~ Mary

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  3. In my world's its hiring a new housekeeper instead of scraping down a door that made the secret sin plain. I was imagining the sin hiding in the bed under my mind but nonetheless, I know exactly what you mean!

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    1. Helene, isn't it amazing what God chooses to use to shine the light into our darkest layers?! For me it was scraping down a door; for you it was a new housekeeper. Repentance and forgiveness are so liberating!
      Thanks so much for stopping and sharing!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  4. So much truth here in this post. I find myself sometimes trying and failing to "will" away some of my secret sins, only to find them completely washed away when I just honestly talk (through journaling) to the Lord and reveal all to Him that He knows anyway. I'm working on stopping trying to "will" things away and just get honest about them from the start. Thanks for this post : )

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    1. I'm so glad you shared this, Jo Lynn. It amazes me, the games we play with sin... When the answer is to lay ourselves open and confess that which He knows already!
      Thank you so much for coming by and taking time to leave a comment. I really appreciate it!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  5. I so agree -- since starting to write our book about our journey through my husband's porn addiction, there has been so much freedom and light in our lives.

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    1. Jen, there's such liberty and freedom when God brings to light those dirty little secret sins. His forgiveness is life-giving and healing. I'm so thankful for His powerful presence in your marriage.
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  6. Love how He uses all of us to speak through. I have been involved with a family matter, in which I had spoken and written words of malice. Nothing I said was an untruth, just ugly truth, and I was not sharing the words in love. During a time with these persons, I was held accountable for what I had said. God humbled me. He enabled me to confess and ask forgiveness to persons that had hurt me and still they refuse to forgive me. How thankful I am that their response doesn't matter, I was/am doing all I do for Him. The thing I am most thankful and blessed by is the accountability He gave me over the sin of malice. It drove me into His Word to dig in and research this sin. He has made me aware at how harmful and destructive it is - and how God abhors it. He has taken all of this for His glory - blessings even in painful situations! I needed to see your verse, "But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law." James 2:9 {NLT} I have been praying that my eyes and theirs will be opened to His truth and how He has opened mine to see that I am standing firm in Him. That the persons against me - their fruits are not His. He also gave me this quote, which ties into your writing.

    "Critique only becomes criticism if you fear other people by craving their approval or fearing their rejection. But living in light of gospel truth means you know that your most devastating evaluation has already been made: You have fallen short of God’s glory in every way possible. But you still get “two thumbs up” because of Christ’s righteousness. That frees you from the sting of falling short in the judgment of a fellow creature."

    Thankful for how He speaks through you - God so blesses - deby

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    1. Deby, thanks so much for sharing your story of confession, repentance, and the remarkable, life-giving forgiveness of our Savior! It sound as though you've gone through some difficult times, but glory to God; He's humbled and redeemed you for His glory! Thanks for sharing this quote!
      Blessings to you, sister ~ Mary

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  7. Boy oh boy what a probing analogy. I will definitely be using this as an example in the near future (you get all the credit of course). What a perfectly clear picture of how God refines us. I really appreciated this. Thank you for linking up!

    Christy Joy
    #happywivesclub

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    1. Christy, I'm so thankful that as He scrapes off the old layers of sin and brings them into the light, He is faithful to heal the open wounds left behind.
      Thanks so much for hosting the link up! I love your site!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  8. Love this! That time, hard work, & thoughtful preparation is required, as we paint over, lay after layer, our yesterdays! YET, all it takes is repentance. A heart cry of forgiveness, for His blood to clean us, wash over us...and strip it all away! :) Praise God!

    UNITED in Him,
    Jen

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    1. Oh Jen, isn't it amazing and sad how much effort we put in to painting over and covering up our sin, when a cry of sincere repentance is all it takes to wash all the mess away!
      I'm so thankful for His cleansing blood!
      Thanks so much for coming by! And thanks for hosting Unite!
      Blessings to you sweet sister ~ Mary

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  9. Wow that was a mess. I bet we look that way to God sometimes huh.

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    1. Alyssa, your comment made me chuckle. I'm sure without the cleansing blood of Jesus, that's exactly how we would look! {probably much worse!}
      Thanks so much for leaving a comment!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  10. Stopped by from Doing You Well Wednesday! Have a wonderful day!!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Betty! And a wonderful day with our Lord to you as well!
      Blessing ~ Mary

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  11. Ah, what a blessing - thanks for sharing this and opening my heart to these things as well. Visiting from My Daily Walk in His Grace.

    Mary

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    1. Hi Mary! There's such freedom when God shines light into our darkest parts.
      I'm so happy to have you here today!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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    2. Mary, I tried to visit your site, but I can't find the link. If you happen to come by again, please leave a link... I'd love to visit!

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  12. Wonderful post! I love your honesty :)
    Found your link on Prowess and Pearls..

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    1. Hi Ren! God's calls us to humble ourselves and be honest with Him... Some areas are just not easy to confess!
      I love that you came by today!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  13. Wow! You're breaking open some needed words. Bless you! Bless you!

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    1. Jennifer, I'm so thankful for the liberating words of God! He is awesome!
      Thank you for coming by, and thanks for hosting the link up!
      Blessings to you, sister ~ Mary

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  14. The thing about secret sins is they hold you back from all the greatness God has for you. Asking for his forgiveness also removes stress and allows you to praise him and serve in a better capacity. Great post, linking up for Prowess and Pearls.

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    1. Forgiveness certainly takes away the stress of trying to keep our sin a secret and frees us to have a deeper, richer relationship with our Lord.
      I'm so glad you came by today!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  15. Hi Chris! I'm so glad you came by! Thanks for leaving a comment and following. I look forward to visiting your site!
    Blessings and hugs to you ~ Mary

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  16. How precious that God speaks to us even when we are doing the mundane. Just beautiful that He loves us so much that He desires to leave nothing hidden in us. Thank you for this reminder today. I visited from Faith Filled Friday & I am so glad that I did!

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    1. He is so good to shine the redeeming light of His presence into our hidden places! I'm so glad you made it by today!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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  17. Stopping by from Missional Woman - what an incredible object lesson. This really gives me so much to ponder today. Blessings from Croatia: Rosilind @ A Little R & R: www.littlerandr.org

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    1. Hi Rolilind! I'm so glad that this gave you something to ponder today. God's word is a wonderful place for our thoughts to sit. I'm on my way over to your site. Thanks so much for visiting!
      Blessing to you ~ Mary

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  18. Hi Mary,
    I am linking in from Finding Joy. I love your sentence: The process of bringing light to the darkness has been painful, humbling,
    revelatory and oh so liberating.
    Freedom in Christ - so powerful. Thanks for great pictures, great analogy and wonderful words of conviction.
    blessings,
    Janis

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    1. Janis, I always appreciate your encouraging words. There's abundant freedom when He brings light to our dark, secret places... so thankful!
      Thanks so much for dropping by! I hope you feel better this week... those dratted allergies!
      Blessings to you ~ Mary

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Your comments mean so much to me. I love reading each and every one! Thanks so much!