“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.
1.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.
2.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!
3.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?
____________________________
“But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” (Psalm 86:15 NIV)
God is a God of compassion. Psalm 86:15 says, “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (NIV). The Bible also says, “God is the Father who is full of mercy and all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3b NCV).
Some of you may have grown up with a father who was full of judgment and distanced himself from you. But that’s not who God is. God isn’t that father. God is the Father who is full of mercy. God is the Father who is full of comfort. That is the kind of relationship he offers to you.
If you’re going to have hope, you’ve got to see who God really is. You’ve got to see that he doesn’t come into your life to make you feel judged but to let you know he really cares.
What’s God really like? God is all about being a part of your everyday life. God is about being close to you. God is about having a relationship with you. The Bible says in Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (NIV).
Some of you who struggle with seeing God as condemning are going, “See right there! He is a condemning God. He’s got a rod and a staff, and he’s out to get me. There’s the proof.”
Let me tell you what this is about. This verse is comforting, not condemning. God’s rod and staff are not out to get you or punish you. They comfort you. How? Picture a shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd uses a rod to discipline the sheep and a staff to direct the sheep. If a sheep is headed off of a cliff, the shepherd uses the rod and staff to make sure it doesn’t. Wouldn’t you agree that’s a good thing? When you’re heading off a cliff, God will bring discipline and direction into your life to keep you from falling off that cliff. It’s not condemning; it’s comforting, because somebody loves you enough to tell you when you’re headed the wrong direction.
That is the kind of God who loves us. That is the kind of God who comforts us. That is the kind of God who gives us hope.
Talk It Over:
•Talk about a time in your life when God provided you comfort by giving you direction and guidance.
•How can you also extend compassion and comfort when you offer discipline and direction to your child or someone in your life?
•What makes you resistant to God’s comfort and mercy?
___________________________
God is a God of compassion. Psalm 86:15 says, “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (NIV). The Bible also says, “God is the Father who is full of mercy and all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3b NCV).
Some of you may have grown up with a father who was full of judgment and distanced himself from you. But that’s not who God is. God isn’t that father. God is the Father who is full of mercy. God is the Father who is full of comfort. That is the kind of relationship he offers to you.
If you’re going to have hope, you’ve got to see who God really is. You’ve got to see that he doesn’t come into your life to make you feel judged but to let you know he really cares.
What’s God really like? God is all about being a part of your everyday life. God is about being close to you. God is about having a relationship with you. The Bible says in Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (NIV).
Some of you who struggle with seeing God as condemning are going, “See right there! He is a condemning God. He’s got a rod and a staff, and he’s out to get me. There’s the proof.”
Let me tell you what this is about. This verse is comforting, not condemning. God’s rod and staff are not out to get you or punish you. They comfort you. How? Picture a shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd uses a rod to discipline the sheep and a staff to direct the sheep. If a sheep is headed off of a cliff, the shepherd uses the rod and staff to make sure it doesn’t. Wouldn’t you agree that’s a good thing? When you’re heading off a cliff, God will bring discipline and direction into your life to keep you from falling off that cliff. It’s not condemning; it’s comforting, because somebody loves you enough to tell you when you’re headed the wrong direction.
That is the kind of God who loves us. That is the kind of God who comforts us. That is the kind of God who gives us hope.
Talk It Over:
•Talk about a time in your life when God provided you comfort by giving you direction and guidance.
•How can you also extend compassion and comfort when you offer discipline and direction to your child or someone in your life?
•What makes you resistant to God’s comfort and mercy?
___________________________
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