Dirty Secrets

Do you have a “Dirty Little Secret?”

Many people do. But to do the equivalent of spring-cleaning in your soul you must first admit your life is not “as pure as the driven snow.”

I’m always amused to hear someone say, “Deep down inside, everyone is basically good.” As much as we’d like to believe it, all the evidence points to the contrary.

We can tell what we’re really like by two things: 1) What we think about when we’re all alone and 2) What we do (or would do) if no one is watching and we don’t think we’ll be caught.

A T-shirt I saw on a young student perfectly describes the attitude that drives this behavior. It proclaimed, “It’s not illegal if you don’t get caught.”

Evil behavior is fast becoming a standard on the Internet. Web sites across the Internet are flooded with vicious and slanderous comments. People are attacked for their looks, their weight, their opinions and their behavior. Civility has all but disappeared.

An AP news story observed, “The Internet—and the anonymity it affords—has given a public stage to people’s basest thoughts, ones that in earlier eras likely never would have traveled past the water cooler, the kitchen table or the next barstool.”

Notice that the Internet doesn’t make our behavior worse--it just allows what we already are to be more public. It provides the cover human nature needs to “rear its ugly head.”

Communication experts are at a loss to explain “the rowdy Wild West situation” that anonymity provides “with no one to filter it.” So far the only solution has been to take down the message boards that give offenders a forum.

The Apostle James in the New Testament of the Bible got it right when he said, “The tongue is…a world of evil…and is itself set on fire by hell.”

Jesus went further when he pointed out the source of our words. He said, “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” And “the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Later he added, “No one is good—except God alone.”

Ouch! The truth hurts.

It would be easy to become a cynic about the human race--and many have. It looks hopeless.

But--hold on just a minute! There is good news. God can change the human heart. He can take what is corrupt and make it clean. In fact that’s one of the reasons for the Bible. It shows us real people whose lives God changed for the better. No one is beyond God’s help.

One of the worst was Saul who became the Apostle Paul. He was full of hatred and, by his own admission, a murderer. God changed him from a killer of Christians into a planter of churches. Read his story in the Bible book called The Acts of the Apostles, chapters 22 to 26.

Are you sick and tired of covering up who you really are? The message of the Bible is that God knows our hearts and he still loves us. He offers to forgive us and clean us up from the inside out. Forget about turning over a “new leaf.” God offers a whole new life.

The Bible says Jesus died for our sins so we could be forgiven and reconciled to God. The solution begins with a prayer of confession--calling on Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior--and it ends with a “clean slate.” God offers to take away your guilt and give you a fresh start.

Jesus called it being “born again.” It’s starting a whole new life as God’s child.

Does your soul need a spring-cleaning? God is up to the job if you give him a chance.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Secret Life

Can you keep a secret? Chances are you already do--more than you care to admit!

“Now hold it right there for just a minute! How do you know whether or not I keep secrets?”

That’s a fair question. Let me answer with the words of Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez: “All human beings have three lives: public, private and secret.”

In public we cultivate the image of self we want others to believe is true. Generous. Kind. Talented. Family man. Successful woman. Whatever we think will make others like us.

In private we “let our hair down.” We become the person with whom we are comfortable. Only our family or closest friends see this person. Some parts of this self make us ashamed. So we guard it closely, afraid others will not like us if they know the truth.

Then there’s our secret life. The self we become when we think no one knows. The self of our daydreams and fantasies.

James Thurber famously portrayed this unseen side of our lives in his classic book, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”

Mitty was a meek, mild-mannered man dominated by others. But in his daydreams he was a fierce, courageous hero’s hero--the man he so desperately wanted to be.

What we are in the secret playground of our minds is the self we want to be. And while we may keep our secrets safe from others, we cannot keep them from God.

The Bible reveals that one day “God will judge men’s secrets.” It adds, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Accountability is a troubling thought to modern minds. We fancy ourselves free to do what we please without unpleasant consequences.

But the beauty of the Bible is that it presents us with unvarnished truth.

God says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

Such truth pains our conscience. Why? Because we know God is ultimately right.

What makes the Bible unique is its uncanny ability to reveal who we really are. Its truth “judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Once we admit our shortcomings and humbly approach God in prayer, we find that “we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

God is not the angry scorekeeper some imagine. Instead of sternly looking for people to punish, God offers forgiveness and a fresh start to everyone through faith in Jesus Christ.

The best part is God welcomes all that seek him. You don’t have to come from a certain nationality or a particular religion. Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Speaking of himself, Jesus added, “Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him, shall have eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.”

It is no secret what God can do in a person’s life through Christ. So bring your secrets to God. He will love you, forgive you and transform you into the person you always wanted to be.

Then you can be the same person all the time. No more secrets. As God’s child, you have nothing to prove and nothing to lose because you’re loved and accepted for who you really are.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!