Don’t repress it; confess it! Don’t conceal it; reveal it. Revealing
your feeling is the beginning of healing.
Hiding your hurt only intensifies it. Problems grow in the
dark and become bigger and bigger, but when exposed to the
light of truth, they shrink. You are only as sick as your secrets.
So take off your mask, stop pretending you’re perfect, and walk
into freedom.
At Saddleback Church we have seen the awesome power of this
principle to break the grip of seemingly hopeless addictions and
persistent temptations through a
program we developed called
Celebrate Recovery. It is a biblical,
eight-step recovery process based
on the Beatitudes of Jesus and built
around small support groups. In
the past ten years over 5,000 lives
have been set free from all kinds of
habits, hurts, and addictions. Today the program is used in
thousands of churches. I highly recommend it for your church.
Satan wants you to think that your sin and temptation are
unique so you must keep them a secret. The truth is, we’re all in
the same boat. We all fight the same temptations,^12 and “all of us
have sinned.”^13 Millions have felt what you’re feeling and have
faced the same struggles you’re facing right now.
The reason we hide our faults is pride. We want others to think
we have everything “under control.” The truth is, whatever you
can’t talk about is already out of control in your life: problems
with your finances, marriage, kids, thoughts, sexuality, secret
habits, or anything else. If you could handle it on your own, you
would have already done so. But you can’t. Willpower and
personal resolutions aren’t enough.
Some problems are too ingrained, too habitual, and too big to
solve on your own. You need a small group or an accountability
partner who will encourage you, support you, pray for you, love
PURPOSE #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ 213
The truth is, whatever you can’t
talk about is already out
of control in your life.