Confessed and Cleansed

Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh," and You took away the guilt of my sin. - Psalm 32:5

I have thought for a long time that there is a lot of power in transparency. No, not as in a cloak of invisibility (though that would be cool). What I have considered is that a person does not need to be perfect, just transparent (open) before God, because when we are vulnerable before Him, the Holy Spirit works to make His improvements. That is powerful!

David, king of Israel, was an adulterer and murderer, but he wasn't able to hide his heart from God. He understood that God knew everything and he chose to be honest and transparent (once confronted) rather than try to hide his faults.

Such honesty is difficult, isn't it? Is it really possible to stay that "open" before the Lord? That transparent? It appears that the only way to crucify the flesh (and this is the problem) is to be filled with the Spirit of God. If we walk with God in the power of the Holy Spirit, then we will be able to overcome the flesh. The flesh always cries, "Hide!", but the Spirit reveals our sin and then give us the power to own it and confess it, so the Almighty can cleanse it!

God removes the sin of the one who makes humble confession, and thereby the devil loses the sovereignty he had gained over the human heart. - Saint Bernard