Hi Peace Family! Jami Mayberry here and I wanted to share with you some wisdom from Pastor Rick Warren about honesty and ways it can help you heal. We posted this on our Facebook page but I thought it belonged on our website as well. I hope it will help you get unstuck and move forward in your life! We love you, Peace Family!
“Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16 LB)
If you want relief and release from the hurts, habits, and hang-ups in your life, you’re going to have to deal with the fear of honesty that you’ve got in your life. There are three common fears that Satan uses to keep you stuck in your rut and afraid to face the truth.
- The fear of your own emotions.You’re afraid that if you deal with that issue, memory, event, sin, abuse, accident, or hurt, that you will not be able to handle your emotions and the grief and the shame. You think you may just go crazy!
If you’ve ever felt like that, relax. Every human being has had that fear. Everybody has felt at some time in their life that they were losing their mind. It’s not as big a deal as you think it is. In fact, only rational people have that fear. You are broken, but you are not crazy. You’re also in good company, because we’re all broken. We all have insecurities, fears, and habits we don’t like.
- The fear of how others will react.You’re afraid to be honest because you might be rejected or dismissed or abandoned. Others might think you’re less of a Christian. You’re afraid to be yourself, because you’re all you’ve got, and if people don’t like what they see, you’re in trouble. And, you’re afraid that others will try to fix you. You’ve got to get over that fear!
- The fear that being honest is useless.
What will it do? What’s the point? Why tell anybody else about what you’re struggling with? You feel like you’ve been there before, and it didn’t help.But you didn’t go there! You haven’t ever really been totally honest, because if you had, you’d already be released. The Bible says, “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16 LB).
When you can let go of your fears and admit your faults to other people, God has promised you the healing you’ve been looking for.
Talk It Over
- How does knowing that other people have the same fears as you help you talk about those fears with someone else?
- What is it about yourself or your past that you want to keep hidden from others?
- How have you experienced healing through confession to God and by sharing your hurts and fears with others?
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