I think the most powerful thing God has ever done for me is to expose my sin to the world. He stripped me of my mask and forced me to face my true, ugly self.
I wasn’t great, I wasn’t perfect, I wasn’t “put together.” I was wearing a mask.
Covering the bad parts of myself and only allowing the “good” to be seen.
Our scheming enemy used that against me so many times telling me “you’ll never get past this sin, everyone has that ONE thing.” But Jesus said, “give that to me. Say no. Use the power that I have put inside you to defeat your enemy.”
PEOPLE, did you know that you have the power to say no? To any type of sin, not just sexual sin (which is what was killing me). Each time you give in and feel powerless to say “no,” that is a little victory for your enemy. He thrives off little victories. With each little victory, that is one step closer to you feeling less than, unloved, unforgivable and further away from Truth. Those who are in Christ have died to sin and have been raised in newness of life (Romans 6). We are no longer slaves to our old selves. Sure we may fall, but we are not SLAVES to that sin. “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” (Romans 6:15-19).
We can BOAST in our weaknesses so that Jesus’ power may be made perfect through grace; “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). So, for those of you walking around shameful and feeling powerless to your sin, CONFESS IT. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (James 5:16)
There is great power in the confession of sins. Don’t wait for it to be exposed, or for it to consume you from the inside out. Tell Satan “not today!”,
And confess your sin to someone you love and trust, or to multiple someone’s. My sin was exposed to everyone and it was painful to walk through, but regardless I walked it. I wasn’t alone though; Jesus’ grace really proved to be strength amid my weakness. I have come out the other side, so grateful that Jesus ripped off my mask. He pursued my heart so #relentlessly that I had no choice but to turn back to Him.
Don’t feel powerless, believe and trust that through Christ you are powerful. You have the Holy Spirit residing in you, convicting you and leading you to look more like Jesus. Tap into His power and listen to Him, follow Him, read His word, get to know Him, and stop allowing yourself to be trapped in sin. Be aware of the fact that the Christian lifestyle is not one of ease, but it is a battle for your soul. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:10-13). Choose to stand up against your enemy and fight back through the power of Christ in you.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)
