Many parts of our story are rightly kept private, as not everyone has the right or privilege to know everything about us. But secrets can quickly become toxic when we then live in darkness – fearing the shame of others finding out. While everyone doesn’t need to know everything, our life should be lived in the light with our trusted others.
It’s tempting to believe we shouldn’t burden others with our struggles and sins, and even more so when such a confession might be disruptive for ourselves and many others. There is truth to the saying ignorance is bliss. But it’s also true that darkness kills.
On the one hand, life is perhaps simpler when the messy, undone parts of our story are not so exposed. We can go through the motions of life and maintain the pretense that we have it altogether, or that our struggles are just of the generic sort common to all. And it might even seem selfish to then unload our particular struggles onto someone else – getting it off our chest while weighing them down as we do. As such, we reason it’s better to keep our secret sins a secret.
But this is a lie that distorts the truth. While there’s a burden and cost when others must contend with the reality of our sin, the answer is not to stay hidden, but rather to come into the light. Darkness allows evil to gain a stronghold in our hearts. And a relatively small issue eventually grows much bigger because we fear it’s already too late to let anyone know. Confession is disruptive, but also healing.
Of course, we must still be wise in who we confess to, as not everyone has the maturity to handle every aspect of our story. At the same time, this also is not an excuse. We must be diligent about finding our trusted others.
In the end, reject the lie that your secret sins must remain in the dark. This only allows them to fester and grow. Practice confession and bringing your full heart into the light with your trusted others.
Photo by محمد الحبيب on Pexel
