It took a while, but over nearly 40 years of walking with Christ I have learned that what we once thought was the forbidden ground of our weaknesses, sins, and secrets is actually the activator of our SPIRITUAL CONFIDENCE and the gateway to God’s inner sanctuary!
It’s true.
God knows EVERYTHING and yet he still wants us to come to him wide open and offer every part of our lives to him. Doing this honors our Maker and the Lord of life.
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” Psalm 66:18-20
Here are three steps you can take to boost your confidence in Christ:
STEP 1: OPEN UP!
God listens with incredible attention when we open up. Laying everything on the altar is not a personal search-and-destroy mission producing even more guilt and pain. Never. The goal is to uncover and bring forth those areas where we need God’s forgiveness and help. The goal is to repent, be forgiven, and move on, humbled but infinitely stronger and never weaker. God doesn’t condemn us, so why should we condemn ourselves?
“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” Romans 8:1-5
STEP 2: REPENT
When we repent, we come face to face with our helplessness and unworthiness. The act of repentance itself is a gift from God propelling us forward to an unbridled and unencumbered faith. At that point we can stand taller and stride further with a new sense of joy.
We can run with a new sense of confidence.
“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
STEP 3: DON’T LOOK BACK!
Our new freedom will undoubtedly be mixed with some anguish that we failed to bring our openness to God sooner, but we should never look back. God doesn’t.
