What if I have things I’d really rather not ever share with anyone? That I am totally embarrassed about? And have stopped, and have repented. Why do I have to be completely honest and with whom? Every one of my close friends? Or just my significant other (which would be Future ‘significant other’, there is not one presently). On a one-on-one basis I choose who to tell. Who will be the most (or who I think will be the most) forgiving? Who will forever more look and treat me differently? Seems everyone is in agreement with the ‘note’ you wrote. Do they not have any skeletons? Those directly ‘involved’ know my ‘secret’ and believe me, there were consequences, but I’d prefer to keep this between me and a select few. Most people do NOT know, and I’d like to keep it that way. The ‘evil’ may be in you too, but most would deny that. I did. And then faced with certain circumstances I stepped, jumped, reveled in that Evil, fell, then crashed and burned. I will never be the same, but why oh why would I want to share that with everyone?
i don’t think every person should know every single thing.
some people are untrustworthy, some people are condescending. there’s lots of verses about that but a good one is proverbs 20:6, but those aren’t really the people in question here.
there is definitely a level of closeness and intimacy achieved when a person knows you for exactly who you are (bad and good) and accepts you anyways. just as God accepts you, yknow? all of it. and if that other person has their darkness too. and if you likewise accept that person and love them entirely, i think it speaks volumes about the depth of love between the two. not even romantic love necessarily.
it’s the idea that we all ought to be more accepting of eachother, we all have those secrets, we all have shame. proverbs 20:9
To be free to to have someone you can tell. It doesn’t have to be everyone. Everyone doesn’t need to know my everything. But I should feel open enough to communicate my struggles with someone that can help. This way they can help me work through stuff. Significant others don’t always have to know everything. There are times it is better if your frustration with them is vented with someone else. Everyone has something, but not everyone has to know, just someone.
I absolutely agree with your response. This is a nice concept theoretically; but from personal experience, it can be very damaging to both myself and others if I tell everyone my everything. Living that way would be very unwise. But as one saying goes: “you’re as sick as your secrets.” I’ve found this to be equally true in my life. If I don’t have someone (or in my case a few people) who I tell everything, I hurt for it.
Everything you’ve experienced can be used for good — but you are right to monitor *how* you use it. I can’t speak for Don, but it seems to me he’s not advocating the broadcasting of every sin to every person you meet.
What you’re doing seems right, as far as I can tell — you’re *not* hiding. You’re opening up to people who are safe for you. You’re using the information about your past and the experiences themselves to learn and to heal.
Bless you. You are NOT alone. I am that safe person for several people in my life, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that we all have things we’re deeply ashamed of. It’s not about the past. It’s all about what we do *now*.
GotNoName,
Don’t share your secret with everybody. It’s not necessary. There are a select few, and God, that should know. Not all people will look at you with love after you’ve divulged your inner demons, which is why you have to choose carefully, and be wise about who you trust. But when you find the person or people who still think you’re amazing, beautiful, wonderful, and good, don’t hold back. Some people will treat you differently, but Godly people will know that it’s not what you’ve done or what you got into that makes you who you are.
The most important part is that you love God, and see who you are through His eyes. No matter what mistakes you’ve made, you are an amazing person. I could use your words to describe a recent time in my own life, too. I’ve been there. And I’m on my way back from it.
Tell the world when you’re ready, and only if God gives you peace about it, not before. And really, if you’ve repented and you’re living for and loving God, it doesn’t even matter what happened. Unless you need to be help accountable for something, such as an addiction, then it is gone and over and doesn’t matter.
Love, Katie
If you have repented, you have nothing to be ashamed about. You are free and it should be apart of your testimony. Aslo I think there is a difference in talking about what you have gone through, and keeping a secret. If your past actions could help someone, but you don’t tell them out of shame or embarrassment, it is a secret. You don’t have to go around announcing your past. I sure don’t, but I will share my pornography addiction, and how I overcame that with men that struggle. God’s Lordship has conquered your past. When you fear something God has conquered, that fear gives the skeleton a chance to come alive. Sin thrives and grows in the dark. Whether it is in the past or not does not matter. The light conquers darkness, and sin grows in that darkness.
I think this note is encouraging honesty to be received and accepted, while discouraging people from hiding their secrets and not being willing to lay the skeletons in their closet out on the table. As a follower of Jesus, I would assume that Don Miller’s intention in sharing this is to promote grace and love within the Body of Christ. This involves laying down those burdens and placing them at the feet of Jesus. In doing this no one has to be alone and the Church is present to encourage the believer; and find common ground with humanity. This note does not say “tell everyone else your business and dark secrets”.
Very well put. I don’t think EVERYTHING should be shared. Although, I do believe if we were all more authentic with each other we would be more united. We are all broken and live in the shame of pretending to be living the ideal – afraid of being “found out”. If we wore our evil on our sleeves we would not be walking through life alone. We may even choose a different path. I know I did, and I too, will never be the same.
I like this post, and have missed you posting. My thought was, though, that we say we want this openness, but people rarely react well to it, at least at first. We’re so unused to it. I find that the less I hide, the less people believe me. They think I’m trying to be funny or self-depracating or edgy. Sometimes, it sends them into a hyperdrive state of trying to guess what the game is. Plus, we assume that other peoples’ darkness has nothing to do with us. If we want the kind of transparency you talk about, it’s a commitment to the person sharing it, for sure. We have to take the darkness well, whether that means accepting that it may never be fixed in this life, that we will have to walk with them through it and the consequences of it, or that in some way our brokenness triggers theirs, and it has everything to do with us.
Because true exposure is the substance that makes the sin disappear once and for all. That is why confession is so important in our salvation.Only you know how true and to whom that exposure must come face to face with but holding back and tucking any sin away only gives it breeding ground.God has made our spirits Holy ground.Be glad that you will never be the same….that’s exactly what God is after.
I am all for authenticity and transparency. Although, I do believe we must be discerning in who we disclose our stories to. Your notes reminds me of Brene Brown’s work on shame. If you’ve never read it, you’d love the Gifts of Imperfection. We cannot connect as human beings if we are too gaurded with our own baggage. However, only some people are safe.
Part of my job is to (when necessary) confront people. One young woman I’ve been working with had told me part of the story, convincing herself that she had been “honest enough for me to get the jist.” And then in the news recently there has been story after story of people who thought their stuff would never need come out and they weren’t –for the most part– Christians. The Holy Spirit convicted her that it would come out eventually and she should just come straight with me. Part of what she believed is that when things came out it would create distance with her and others. The opposite has been true –but I find the fear of others is one of Satan’s great tools.
I couldn’t agree more. I have yet to see the “veil of secrecy” accomplish anything positive. Can we be whole when we hide parts of us? Can we truly love when we cannot be honest? Can we live in forgiveness and redemption when we cannot face who we are with the people we are in relationship with. “Skeletons” are just that… the remains of what is life, rotted away. To hide our depravity is to allow it to fester, and eventually to control us. I would rather be known, really known, with all my character flaws & hurtful choices, words & actions, my judgements, then to live falsely, or in fear. I can live with being judged by others, I can even live with not being forgiven by others. I cannot live in hiding.
When we stand before the judgement seat of Christ we will have all our secrets revealed. The curtains of our hearts will be open.
I believe what ever we bring into the light looses it’s power over us but we need to use wisdom in relationships. Trust can be given easily, but once it has been broken, it can take years to gain it back.
Okay, I’ve been thinking about this all day. We need to talk about how to create a Christian culture where it is *safe* to share our failings and the “evil within.” Especially for Christian leaders. We have to find a way for the temptations and even the failures to surface BEFORE they multiply, the pressure builds, it all blows up and the secret is exposed publicly.
It seems to me that the real hypocrisy, in many of these cases, is that we serve a God who values transparency, forgiveness and redemption…but we insist that our leaders look like shiny plastic perfect people. Then, when they are “exposed” as sinful creeps like the rest of us…we lay all the hypocrisy at their feet.
It has to change. And the ONLY people who can change it are those who really are being redeemed by Jesus. If we can’t figure this out, there’s no hope for anyone else to do it. We have to become counter-cultural in this way, as well as in so many others.
Well said Lori! I feel bad for those who have lived in bondage for years and finally found someone to bring it into the light with, only to get knock down because of it. Jesus said the truth sets us free, but does it?
DKH13: So we all have secrets. But let’s be clear: a secret is a lie… and lies have a power all their own. Satan is the father of lies and will use your secrets and lies to undermine you. God is truth. Period. We don’t confess all our sins to everyone but until we are willing to drag our secrets, lies, and sin into the blazing light of God’s truth, we will never be free. Secrets are lies, and lies are powerful. Exposé your secrets and lies to God’s truth and a few trusted friends and you will hear the clank of the chains as they fall of you.
My point is that we REQUIRE our leaders to keep their secrets (to lie), because if they confess weaknesses (at least *certain* weaknesses we have foreordained are worse than others), they will lose their jobs and the work they’re called to. Then we get angry because they’ve been leading double lives. What choice did we give them?
true…not sure if you all have seen or heard of the blind square, where there are 4 boxes, box 1. what all people know about you and you know about yourself and of course God knows it too; box 2. what you and God only know about you; box 3. YOUR blind spot, what people know about you but you don’t know about yourself, and of course God knows about you; finally box 4. What only God knows about you! so the bar between those boxes first two on top of 2nd two are not fixed but rather movable…so the goal is to allow people to know as much as possible about you, no secrets; moving the top bar toward the left of the square..then also allow people to tell you what you don’t know about yourself, teach you the good and bad they see in you so you can grow and learn; this bar also moves to the left…it’s ok for God to know most about you, which no one else including you do not…he’s your potter, maker…He does and will always know more! This helped me in my 20′s realize living with secret is a burden! Unnecessary burden! That doesn’t mean all people need to know all things about me, but some people and someone needs to know and have me fess up what should not be kept in the heart to blow out one day as a burden! Jesus carried my burdens on the cross, why try to carry them over???
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid? What would your life look like if you did not live in fear?” These were questions Beth Moore asked in her study on the book of Esther. Two questions that were so simple at the time but in light of the study (Esther keeping some things private while revealing others and being willing to tell the truth at the right time, in spite of the fact that it may cost her life, changed her and the nation of Israel forever.) changed my entire view of fear and my life and living honestly. Obviously, you are talking about specific things we share about ourselves in what should be “safe place” – the community of believers – and I fully agree that fear should not hold us back from telling the truth, but wisdom and discernment of our audience should come into play.
I grew-up in a Messianic Jewish congregation before moving to an EV-Free church (I know, I know, don’t hold it against me! ). I love Jesus desperately by I am a horrible-roller-coater-of-a-disciple. I am a single-mom to my 3 year old daughter who was, *gasp* born out-of-wedlock, and her dad is much older (54), and I am just 31. I don’t know what is more shocking/funny, seeing the looks on people’s faces when they find out that reproductive organs work out side of the bounds of marriage or that I was attracted to an older man.
However, what I have found in telling my “God-story” is that is motivates others to share their struggles and then comes the bonding and honesty. The story of my “HUGE fall from grace” –you know the kind, you get all scraped up and muddy and it is so muddy it’s in your teeth and you feel like you are still chomping on sand for the next week – it was not the “real secret.” (And do not be deceived, there are MANY other falls beside that one!)
The real secret is the one that gets left untold as it is far less “glamorous.” The one about a girl who believed Jesus was not enough. The girl who was enamored with what this fallen world had to offer, who gave away her affections like lollipops and chased after everything that had an expiration date, forsaking a holiday by the seaside to play with broken, dirty toys in a dark corner (C.S. Lewis paraphrased). She would rather buy sparkly shoes than invest time in pursuing her First Love. Laughing at “pick up your CROSS and follow Me” instead I picked up my beach bag and bikini and had shallow conversations with friends who as far as I could tell were lost and seeking what I already had: the Gospel. But I was so self-absorbed I did not care to tell them the Truth about that.
Maybe what we are more afraid of than telling the truth about the evil inside of us is telling the Truth about the Gospel…which is the real tragedy, because if we are telling the Gospel with our lips and minds and bodies, than the rest falls away and love replaces the fear and the honesty just flows. Our flesh, satan and the world tells us to keep it all in. But the Bible tells the opposite: “confess your sins to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed” (James 5:16).
Great stuff, Don, challenging and poignant and Biblical, as usual.
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my web site so i came to “return the favor”.I am trying to find things to enhance my web site!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!
What if I have things I’d really rather not ever share with anyone? That I am totally embarrassed about? And have stopped, and have repented. Why do I have to be completely honest and with whom? Every one of my close friends? Or just my significant other (which would be Future ‘significant other’, there is not one presently). On a one-on-one basis I choose who to tell. Who will be the most (or who I think will be the most) forgiving? Who will forever more look and treat me differently? Seems everyone is in agreement with the ‘note’ you wrote. Do they not have any skeletons? Those directly ‘involved’ know my ‘secret’ and believe me, there were consequences, but I’d prefer to keep this between me and a select few. Most people do NOT know, and I’d like to keep it that way. The ‘evil’ may be in you too, but most would deny that. I did. And then faced with certain circumstances I stepped, jumped, reveled in that Evil, fell, then crashed and burned. I will never be the same, but why oh why would I want to share that with everyone?
i don’t think every person should know every single thing.
some people are untrustworthy, some people are condescending. there’s lots of verses about that but a good one is proverbs 20:6, but those aren’t really the people in question here.
there is definitely a level of closeness and intimacy achieved when a person knows you for exactly who you are (bad and good) and accepts you anyways. just as God accepts you, yknow? all of it. and if that other person has their darkness too. and if you likewise accept that person and love them entirely, i think it speaks volumes about the depth of love between the two. not even romantic love necessarily.
it’s the idea that we all ought to be more accepting of eachother, we all have those secrets, we all have shame. proverbs 20:9
thats more so the point here i think.
To be free to to have someone you can tell. It doesn’t have to be everyone. Everyone doesn’t need to know my everything. But I should feel open enough to communicate my struggles with someone that can help. This way they can help me work through stuff. Significant others don’t always have to know everything. There are times it is better if your frustration with them is vented with someone else. Everyone has something, but not everyone has to know, just someone.
I absolutely agree with your response. This is a nice concept theoretically; but from personal experience, it can be very damaging to both myself and others if I tell everyone my everything. Living that way would be very unwise. But as one saying goes: “you’re as sick as your secrets.” I’ve found this to be equally true in my life. If I don’t have someone (or in my case a few people) who I tell everything, I hurt for it.
I. Completely. Agree.
Everything you’ve experienced can be used for good — but you are right to monitor *how* you use it. I can’t speak for Don, but it seems to me he’s not advocating the broadcasting of every sin to every person you meet.
What you’re doing seems right, as far as I can tell — you’re *not* hiding. You’re opening up to people who are safe for you. You’re using the information about your past and the experiences themselves to learn and to heal.
Bless you. You are NOT alone. I am that safe person for several people in my life, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that we all have things we’re deeply ashamed of. It’s not about the past. It’s all about what we do *now*.
GotNoName,
Don’t share your secret with everybody. It’s not necessary. There are a select few, and God, that should know. Not all people will look at you with love after you’ve divulged your inner demons, which is why you have to choose carefully, and be wise about who you trust. But when you find the person or people who still think you’re amazing, beautiful, wonderful, and good, don’t hold back. Some people will treat you differently, but Godly people will know that it’s not what you’ve done or what you got into that makes you who you are.
The most important part is that you love God, and see who you are through His eyes. No matter what mistakes you’ve made, you are an amazing person. I could use your words to describe a recent time in my own life, too. I’ve been there. And I’m on my way back from it.
Tell the world when you’re ready, and only if God gives you peace about it, not before. And really, if you’ve repented and you’re living for and loving God, it doesn’t even matter what happened. Unless you need to be help accountable for something, such as an addiction, then it is gone and over and doesn’t matter.
Love, Katie
What great words of wisdom Katie!
If you have repented, you have nothing to be ashamed about. You are free and it should be apart of your testimony. Aslo I think there is a difference in talking about what you have gone through, and keeping a secret. If your past actions could help someone, but you don’t tell them out of shame or embarrassment, it is a secret. You don’t have to go around announcing your past. I sure don’t, but I will share my pornography addiction, and how I overcame that with men that struggle. God’s Lordship has conquered your past. When you fear something God has conquered, that fear gives the skeleton a chance to come alive. Sin thrives and grows in the dark. Whether it is in the past or not does not matter. The light conquers darkness, and sin grows in that darkness.
I think this note is encouraging honesty to be received and accepted, while discouraging people from hiding their secrets and not being willing to lay the skeletons in their closet out on the table. As a follower of Jesus, I would assume that Don Miller’s intention in sharing this is to promote grace and love within the Body of Christ. This involves laying down those burdens and placing them at the feet of Jesus. In doing this no one has to be alone and the Church is present to encourage the believer; and find common ground with humanity. This note does not say “tell everyone else your business and dark secrets”.
Very well put. I don’t think EVERYTHING should be shared. Although, I do believe if we were all more authentic with each other we would be more united. We are all broken and live in the shame of pretending to be living the ideal – afraid of being “found out”. If we wore our evil on our sleeves we would not be walking through life alone. We may even choose a different path. I know I did, and I too, will never be the same.
I like this post, and have missed you posting. My thought was, though, that we say we want this openness, but people rarely react well to it, at least at first. We’re so unused to it. I find that the less I hide, the less people believe me. They think I’m trying to be funny or self-depracating or edgy. Sometimes, it sends them into a hyperdrive state of trying to guess what the game is. Plus, we assume that other peoples’ darkness has nothing to do with us. If we want the kind of transparency you talk about, it’s a commitment to the person sharing it, for sure. We have to take the darkness well, whether that means accepting that it may never be fixed in this life, that we will have to walk with them through it and the consequences of it, or that in some way our brokenness triggers theirs, and it has everything to do with us.
Because true exposure is the substance that makes the sin disappear once and for all. That is why confession is so important in our salvation.Only you know how true and to whom that exposure must come face to face with but holding back and tucking any sin away only gives it breeding ground.God has made our spirits Holy ground.Be glad that you will never be the same….that’s exactly what God is after.
LOVED this.
I am all for authenticity and transparency. Although, I do believe we must be discerning in who we disclose our stories to. Your notes reminds me of Brene Brown’s work on shame. If you’ve never read it, you’d love the Gifts of Imperfection. We cannot connect as human beings if we are too gaurded with our own baggage. However, only some people are safe.
Love it! Thanks for that.
Part of my job is to (when necessary) confront people. One young woman I’ve been working with had told me part of the story, convincing herself that she had been “honest enough for me to get the jist.” And then in the news recently there has been story after story of people who thought their stuff would never need come out and they weren’t –for the most part– Christians. The Holy Spirit convicted her that it would come out eventually and she should just come straight with me. Part of what she believed is that when things came out it would create distance with her and others. The opposite has been true –but I find the fear of others is one of Satan’s great tools.
I couldn’t agree more. I have yet to see the “veil of secrecy” accomplish anything positive. Can we be whole when we hide parts of us? Can we truly love when we cannot be honest? Can we live in forgiveness and redemption when we cannot face who we are with the people we are in relationship with. “Skeletons” are just that… the remains of what is life, rotted away. To hide our depravity is to allow it to fester, and eventually to control us. I would rather be known, really known, with all my character flaws & hurtful choices, words & actions, my judgements, then to live falsely, or in fear. I can live with being judged by others, I can even live with not being forgiven by others. I cannot live in hiding.
When we stand before the judgement seat of Christ we will have all our secrets revealed. The curtains of our hearts will be open.
I believe what ever we bring into the light looses it’s power over us but we need to use wisdom in relationships. Trust can be given easily, but once it has been broken, it can take years to gain it back.
Okay, I’ve been thinking about this all day. We need to talk about how to create a Christian culture where it is *safe* to share our failings and the “evil within.” Especially for Christian leaders. We have to find a way for the temptations and even the failures to surface BEFORE they multiply, the pressure builds, it all blows up and the secret is exposed publicly.
It seems to me that the real hypocrisy, in many of these cases, is that we serve a God who values transparency, forgiveness and redemption…but we insist that our leaders look like shiny plastic perfect people. Then, when they are “exposed” as sinful creeps like the rest of us…we lay all the hypocrisy at their feet.
It has to change. And the ONLY people who can change it are those who really are being redeemed by Jesus. If we can’t figure this out, there’s no hope for anyone else to do it. We have to become counter-cultural in this way, as well as in so many others.
Well said Lori! I feel bad for those who have lived in bondage for years and finally found someone to bring it into the light with, only to get knock down because of it. Jesus said the truth sets us free, but does it?
Ultimately it does. If we could adopt the heart of God “on earth as it is in heaven,” it would happen more quickly and in more ways!
DKH13: So we all have secrets. But let’s be clear: a secret is a lie… and lies have a power all their own. Satan is the father of lies and will use your secrets and lies to undermine you. God is truth. Period. We don’t confess all our sins to everyone but until we are willing to drag our secrets, lies, and sin into the blazing light of God’s truth, we will never be free. Secrets are lies, and lies are powerful. Exposé your secrets and lies to God’s truth and a few trusted friends and you will hear the clank of the chains as they fall of you.
My point is that we REQUIRE our leaders to keep their secrets (to lie), because if they confess weaknesses (at least *certain* weaknesses we have foreordained are worse than others), they will lose their jobs and the work they’re called to. Then we get angry because they’ve been leading double lives. What choice did we give them?
[...] It’s Not What You Do That Scares Me, It’s What You Hide by Don Miller. I think the title speaks for itself. [...]
to be so straight up and straigh forward – I like it!
.
(and very un-pacific northwest like, I might add
I do bad stuff, but trust is key.
true…not sure if you all have seen or heard of the blind square, where there are 4 boxes, box 1. what all people know about you and you know about yourself and of course God knows it too; box 2. what you and God only know about you; box 3. YOUR blind spot, what people know about you but you don’t know about yourself, and of course God knows about you; finally box 4. What only God knows about you! so the bar between those boxes first two on top of 2nd two are not fixed but rather movable…so the goal is to allow people to know as much as possible about you, no secrets; moving the top bar toward the left of the square..then also allow people to tell you what you don’t know about yourself, teach you the good and bad they see in you so you can grow and learn; this bar also moves to the left…it’s ok for God to know most about you, which no one else including you do not…he’s your potter, maker…He does and will always know more! This helped me in my 20′s realize living with secret is a burden! Unnecessary burden! That doesn’t mean all people need to know all things about me, but some people and someone needs to know and have me fess up what should not be kept in the heart to blow out one day as a burden! Jesus carried my burdens on the cross, why try to carry them over???
[...] {Source} Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
THANK YOU for this huge encouragement to always try to do the right thing even when it hurts.
Great word… And also sums up why I won’t vote for Newt Gingrich.
[...] It’s not what you do that scares me, it’s what you hide. is a post from: Donald Miller’s [...]
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid? What would your life look like if you did not live in fear?” These were questions Beth Moore asked in her study on the book of Esther. Two questions that were so simple at the time but in light of the study (Esther keeping some things private while revealing others and being willing to tell the truth at the right time, in spite of the fact that it may cost her life, changed her and the nation of Israel forever.) changed my entire view of fear and my life and living honestly. Obviously, you are talking about specific things we share about ourselves in what should be “safe place” – the community of believers – and I fully agree that fear should not hold us back from telling the truth, but wisdom and discernment of our audience should come into play.
I grew-up in a Messianic Jewish congregation before moving to an EV-Free church (I know, I know, don’t hold it against me! ). I love Jesus desperately by I am a horrible-roller-coater-of-a-disciple. I am a single-mom to my 3 year old daughter who was, *gasp* born out-of-wedlock, and her dad is much older (54), and I am just 31. I don’t know what is more shocking/funny, seeing the looks on people’s faces when they find out that reproductive organs work out side of the bounds of marriage or that I was attracted to an older man.
However, what I have found in telling my “God-story” is that is motivates others to share their struggles and then comes the bonding and honesty. The story of my “HUGE fall from grace” –you know the kind, you get all scraped up and muddy and it is so muddy it’s in your teeth and you feel like you are still chomping on sand for the next week – it was not the “real secret.” (And do not be deceived, there are MANY other falls beside that one!)
The real secret is the one that gets left untold as it is far less “glamorous.” The one about a girl who believed Jesus was not enough. The girl who was enamored with what this fallen world had to offer, who gave away her affections like lollipops and chased after everything that had an expiration date, forsaking a holiday by the seaside to play with broken, dirty toys in a dark corner (C.S. Lewis paraphrased). She would rather buy sparkly shoes than invest time in pursuing her First Love. Laughing at “pick up your CROSS and follow Me” instead I picked up my beach bag and bikini and had shallow conversations with friends who as far as I could tell were lost and seeking what I already had: the Gospel. But I was so self-absorbed I did not care to tell them the Truth about that.
Maybe what we are more afraid of than telling the truth about the evil inside of us is telling the Truth about the Gospel…which is the real tragedy, because if we are telling the Gospel with our lips and minds and bodies, than the rest falls away and love replaces the fear and the honesty just flows. Our flesh, satan and the world tells us to keep it all in. But the Bible tells the opposite: “confess your sins to one another and pray for each other that you may be healed” (James 5:16).
Great stuff, Don, challenging and poignant and Biblical, as usual.
There, but for the grace of God go I…
[...] It’s not what you do that scares me, it’s what you hide. :: The comments are almost as thought-provoking as Don Miller’s post. [...]
[...] it’s not what you do that scares me, it’s what you hide – Don Miller [...]
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my web site so i came to “return the favor”.I am trying to find things to enhance my web site!I suppose its ok to use some of your ideas!!