The trait that keeps me on the straight and narrow

Daily writing promptWhat’s the trait you value most about yourself?View all responses

As long as I can remember I’ve had the belief that God knows everything about me — everything I do, everything I think, feel, and desire, and everything I say. Because of that belief I realized that if God already knows everything about me there’s no reason to for me to hide things from anybody else.

That led me to radical openness and self-depreciating honesty. When I’m interacting with people, I tell all and almost never try to hide anything. As a small child I world go to my parents and tell them how I had disobeyed them. (God knew so why shouldn’t they?) My wife says she has never worried about me cheating on her because she knows that I would immediately come and tell her.

I don’t like to carry guilt when I’ve done wrong, so I confess it and get it out into the open. That way I don’t have to secretly carry the burden.

By opening my heart with honesty to people I feel a deep connection with them, and they usually offer me kindness and compassion. They often reciprocate and open their heart to me. This makes a deep connection.

I was a counselor/chaplain in a recovery treatment center for 5 1/2 years. Rather than approaching the men with reserved professionalism, I shared with them with openness and honesty about my own struggles with guilt, fear, and worry. Then they opened up to me, confessing and often weeping. It was an amazing thing to see this powerful healing pattern repeated over and over in hundreds of men’s lives.

It doesn’t matter to me whether I get likes on this post or not. Good comments, bad comments, or no comments, God knows my heart, so I am free from other people’s praise or criticism. I only hope that this post has encouraged you. God knows everything about you, even the things you’ve hidden from yourself, and He loves you so much that He longs to lead you to hope, healing, forgiveness, and righteousness. Here’s how He does that: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Why not open your heart to the risen Jesus Christ right now?

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