Is anyone else as terrified of being accountable as I am?
Being accountable to a brother in the faith about some of the most private, hidden sins in our life isn’t exactly the most attractive to-do on my list.
Take out the trash: check.
Make dinner: check.
Heck, even go for a run: check.
Confess an ongoing struggle with same-sex lust: … tomorrow.
There’s just something about telling someone you fell to masturbation or pornography that doesn’t exactly feel welcome in our day. Who wants to leave the security of a good, commendable image and throw themselves under the bus of their own immorality? Even if it’s a façade, the mask that we can continue to wear by not confessing our sins to one another is comfortable, convenient and, well, safe.
At least, it seems very safe.
Really, what is safe is the opposite. What does not heal us, and in fact slowly eats away at us, is secretly digging a grave to throw all our sins within, burying them in our minds till we can forget or ignore them. What heals us is confessing our sins to one another, says James.
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16
Confessing our sins allows us to seek the advocacy of Jesus, who pleads for us to the Father. When we bury our sins and keep them secret, they just fester and rot, teaching us that we are not worthy of advocacy or that we will never be free from our sins.
What is SAFE, but is often least comfortable, is confessing our sins and allowing the knowledge of Jesus’s love to comfort us and heal us. Having a brother lead you to prayer is important, since we delay ourselves after sinning and need guidance of another perspective. We need someone else to tell us that God does love us, God died for us while we were sinners, and that He will complete the work He’s begun in us.
Even though you may be afraid of confessing your sins, just as I am every time, remember: it’s far less dangerous than not confessing.
God loves you, brothers.
“I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1