Secret No More

July 27, 2022

And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life. Romans 2:16 NLT

Here are two statements I have found to be true: “You’re as sick as your secrets” and “Nothing is less secure than your secrets.” The world has had plenty of evidence for that since the explosion of technical opportunities and the social media age. Information is literally at our fingertips with computers, phones, and all the devices and search engines. Our secrets and the efforts to keep them make us sick with anxiety and stress.

We try hard to look better than we are, to hide our sins, flaws, and mistakes. We don’t want others to know who we are. But everything we have ever said, written, or done seems to be recorded somewhere. Politicians, celebrities, pastors, and ordinary people have found their secrets to make them sick emotionally, spiritually, and filled with phobias and anxiety. And then, those secrets were exposed. Others investigated with all the tools now available, and things once thought gone forever were discovered. When the secrets were exposed, lives were turned upside down.

Every time I see another exposed, I think of the wisdom my mother repeatedly shared, “Time and truth don’t always walk hand in hand, but they always end up at the same place.” For sure. Nothing is less secure than your secrets.

In the world, these issues are a legitimate cause for concern. Even your good information, your good secrets, can be found out and accounts hacked and identity stolen. But followers of Jesus must realize there is a much bigger issue. We may or may not be able to keep our secrets from others. But one thing is for sure: God knows everything we do.

God already knows every thought I think and everything I do. Nothing is hidden from Him, even things no one else will ever know. And one day, God will judge my secret life. If I willingly open every corner of my life to him right now—every thought every activity, every hope, every dream, every habit, every relationship—I will have nothing to fear on that day. I will be spiritually healthy, with no sick secrets. I will have no need for insecurity because I will already be completely known.

• Search me, O God. Know my every thought, know every piece of me. I want to be delighted that You completely know me, and I ask that you help me live in grateful transparency before You and people. Amen.