Why do we hide our sins? There are lots of reasons, some of which we’ve covered in the past few days’ readings. We might feel ashamed, or we’re afraid of facing the consequences if we reveal them. We might be worried of showing others that underneath our polished exterior, we’re not as perfect as we’d like them to think. A lot of the time, it comes down to the fear of revealing the difference between our public image versus our private one. We can also be uneasy about revealing our sins to God. We might avoid spending time with Him because we know we’re hiding things we’re ashamed of or worried about. But actually, those are the times when we should be running to Him and clinging to Him even more closely. The Bible tells us that ‘the LORD see searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought’ (1 Chronicles 28:9 NIV). God knows our best thoughts and our worst thoughts. He knows the motives behind our words and actions. He sees what’s really in our hearts. For many of us, that’s a very scary thought, but we need to remember this: God knows the worst about us, yet He still wants a relationship with us. 1 John 4:10 says ‘This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins’ (NLT). There’s absolutely no need to hide our sins from God, because He already knows about them anyway, and He’s already paid the ultimate price to save us. He wouldn’t do that and then turn away from us. So let’s accept His gift of love and salvation, and turn to Him first when we need to confess and seek forgiveness.

What now?

We often feel ashamed when we’ve done something wrong. Next time you feel that way, instead of carrying that shame, use those feelings as your personal reminder to draw close to God, tell Him about it, and ask for forgiveness.