This question just in from our global online tribe: “Why do I need to examine my heart and take inventory on my sins? God already knows about them, right?”
A key discipline in our fight to live an authentic life in Christ is UNMASKING OUR SIN. We must KNOW our sins specifically in order to activate God’s specific forgiveness and cleansing.
The FIRST reason God is looking for us to be specific in unmasking sin is so he can be specific in forgiving them. He wants more from us than an “Umbrella Prayer” where we say: “Lord, forgive my sins.”
That approach does not allow the sinner to 1) Grow spiritually by learning from their transgression; and 2) Be in a stronger defensive position when the same sin comes back to pay us another visit.
To GENERALIZE our sins is to RATIONALIZE them. And it’s wrong.
The SECOND reason it’s important to unmask sin is to surrender our pride and abandon any thought of self-reliant selfishness. We need to be specific and confess all of our sins or the “little sins” will be minimized out of our mind and seared into our behavior.
It doesn’t take long for the Enemy to move something we do or say from the red-light sin category to green-light take action status.
The THIRD reason we need to unmask our sin is so we can follow-up on what Christ did to cancel them. Our role is to BURY THEM through our sanctified diligence. The only sin that can be truly vanquished is a confessed and forgiven sin.
Unmasking our sins requires a willingness to SEEK OUT each and every sin that wants to control us and then address them specifically.
I ask God to help me live in the open without trying to hide anything from anybody.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What needs to be unmasked in your life today?
“Someone will say, “I am allowed to do anything.” Yes; but not everything is good for you. I could say that I am allowed to do anything, but I am not going to let anything make me its slave.” I Corinthians 6:12
