It’s ironic that in the areas where we need help the most, we often close ourselves off from honest dialogue with our Savior. He created us and knows every detail of our lives better than we do, yet we seem to think we can hide things from Him. It’s far better to open our heart to His searching and direction. Enjoying God’s continual presence in our life requires that no area be excluded from the light of His Word and His amazing love for us. We must not allow our lives to become compartmentalized, giving God access to some areas but not to others.
If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we need help to live a pure life. Good news! God doesn’t expect us to do that on our own. His grace took care of our guilt and shame. Now, His grace will also help us live a new life. Sanctification requires that we be open, honest, and transparent before God. This includes both external areas like actions and decisions as well as internal ones like thoughts and attitudes. These are connected. Thoughts become attitudes and beliefs, and attitudes and beliefs become actions. We need to come to the point where we naturally and easily open each area to God’s evaluation, especially our innermost thoughts and feelings.
Cultivating an open and honest heart before the Lord will short-circuit wrong thoughts and feelings. It will help us minimize negative reactions and He will help us make wise decisions. The reality is we can be under deception at any given moment. No one is immune: even great men and women of the Bible were deceived at times. The problem with deception is that we are blind to it. That’s where humility and openness to God comes in. We give the Holy Spirit access and permission to bring correction to any area He sees fit. All of us face difficult circumstances, offenses, and temptation. We cannot afford to isolate our thoughts and feelings. We need to learn to go to God first, and to do so with transparency and authenticity.
Are there things you are embarrassed to open up to the Lord about? Now is the time to approach the throne of grace. There is no shame or condemnation—only God’s supernatural power to achieve victory.
And that’s the memo.
By Mark Jones and Our Daily Bread
