Proverbs 28:13 caught my attention today: He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
This passage is about mercy and forgiveness and healing. And I guess I’m speaking from a personal experience standpoint on this… Trying to hide a burden or sin was like carrying around a 100 lb. weight – an analogy for trying to hide a sin (or sins). It gets really tiring after a while and really builds a wall or barrier to God’s forgiveness and healing. There was fear and insecurity working on me. Pride also kept me from repenting. But when the burden got too great I had to break down and give it to God and the relief was immense. I went from “not prospering” (as in the first half of the Proverb) to flourishing from the freedom from the burden. And the wall I had built came down and God’s love filled me.
And then an interesting thing happened, albeit some time later. Because of my being given mercy and forgiveness, I was able to view others with eyes of mercy and not carry around the burden of mistrust or judgement. I’ll confess this is something I continue to work on and probably always will! But a change definitely happened.
Proverbs 28:13 caught my attention today: He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
This passage is about mercy and forgiveness and healing. And I guess I’m speaking from a personal experience standpoint on this… Trying to hide a burden or sin was like carrying around a 100 lb. weight – an analogy for trying to hide a sin (or sins). It gets really tiring after a while and really builds a wall or barrier to God’s forgiveness and healing. There was fear and insecurity working on me. Pride also kept me from repenting. But when the burden got too great I had to break down and give it to God and the relief was immense. I went from “not prospering” (as in the first half of the Proverb) to flourishing from the freedom from the burden. And the wall I had built came down and God’s love filled me.
And then an interesting thing happened, albeit some time later. Because of my being given mercy and forgiveness, I was able to view others with eyes of mercy and not carry around the burden of mistrust or judgement. I’ll confess this is something I continue to work on and probably always will! But a change definitely happened.