Breaking Free From the Power of ShameSample

DAY 4: Confession Releases Shame

David’s next step was confession. You can acknowledge something without confessing it.  This is where we get into habitual sin.  We can admit it but not uproot it.  I can walk by and stare at the weeds in my yard and acknowledge they are there, but they will continue to grow until I do something about them. 

Confessing is doing something about our sin, so shame doesn’t continue to grow. The word confess means to agree with God that we missed the mark.  We have sinned and fallen short. The enemy loves to fight in the dark; that is his battleground. We must bring our deepest secrets into the light. That's God's battleground, and that's where the enemy loses his power. Confessing brings our sin out of the darkness and into the light, where we’re able to win our spiritual fights.  The dark is the enemy's territory; he loses his power in the light.

Acknowledgement and confession are where the Accuser begins to lose the battle, because as we move forward to bring this out to the light, he begins to lose grip.  The worst thing to do is to conceal the things that are causing shame.  If we cover it, then all we are doing is pouring soil on the root, which will eventually grow through.  You can't just trim a weed or pour dirt over it and expect it not to grow; you have to pull it out by its root. Confession is the uprooting of the weed.  When confession happens, the source of shame loses its power. 

David continues in Psalm 32 and gives us a great picture of what happens when we don't confess, "For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." He knew what it felt like to be guilty.  He knew what it felt like to fall short.  He was speaking about something that happened in the past, so he spoke from experience about what it's like to sin and then try to cover it up.  Was he ashamed, and that's what led to him covering?  I am sure he was!

He goes on to say that God's hand was heavy upon him day and night.  Think about what he was saying.  All day long, he felt the weight of covering his sin.  He was depleted emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  He says that his strength was dried up like in the heat of the summer.

When we hide and conceal, not only does it produce unwanted shame, but even worse, it causes God to press down on our hearts.  This leads us into misery until we come clean.  

But there’s something important that needs to be said here. It is good that God’s hand is heavy on us while we are living in unconfessed sin. Because you are His child, God’s grace will not allow you to stay in hiding.  God’s not out to get you in trouble; the pressure you feel from his hand is like the loving discipline of a Father correcting his child, so that the child can thrive and live a fruitful life! Think about that.  God will not let you sin in peace.