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“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:12-13)

“Why didn’t you confront me? Why didn’t you challenge me sooner?” The words echoed around the room and were seemingly screamed into my ears.

Before me sat a man who was beginning to feel the terrible weight of sin’s consequences. His deep-rooted idolatry had been exposed, and the fear that this sin could prove the deadness of his spiritual condition was now before him. Finally, the pleasure of sin had worn off and he was left with bitter, gut-wrenching guilt that penitence could no longer relieve.     

Mind you, I knew that spiritual battles were coming. I could see smoke and guess there was a fire nearby. I had hinted at and warned of looming dangers. I had warned about what occurs in our lives when we fail to live according to the truth we profess. I had warned that guilt robs people of their joy and spiritual vitality, because they are no longer walking in the Spirit and producing the fruit of the Spirit. When joy, patience, peace, gentleness, and love are lost, there is evidence that a heart is being hardened by sin. Instead of genuine fruit, our lives are filled with patterns of penitence, empty devotion, and private moral corruption. The absence of spiritual fruit and/or the presence of false repentance are classic warning signs.

While I knew something was wrong in my friend’s life, I certainly did not know what. Short of accusing him of the major sins, I could never really know until he confessed. Frankly, honest confession is at the heart of breaking sin’s deceitfulness. When my friend asked me why I hadn’t confronted him, he assumed that he would have told me the truth if I guessed his sin right. I honestly doubt that. I doubt it because Hebrews chapter three makes clear that sin hardens the heart through deception. I also doubt it because sinners living in hypocrisy become skilled at living two lives. They are skilled at putting on the church face under a pretense of living for God, and then quickly changing gears and unmasking the devil when given opportunity. What’s more, a heart willing to lie to God on a daily basis about secret idolatries, willing to lie to others about personal sins, and willing to lie to itself about how ensnared it really is isn’t likely to openly confess sin when directly confronted. My friend didn’t understand how ensnared his heart had really become.

How can we maintain a heart that is tender toward God? We can begin to break sin’s hardening effects by willingly confessing sin to God and others who could help us grow spiritually. There is a reason why James says that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5). When we willingly confess our sins and fall broken before God, the healing and restoring grace of God revitalizes our spiritual life.

I have seen the mighty transformation of many sinners including myself. Every journey starts with confession of sin (1 John 1:9). Stop waiting for someone to throw a spiritual dart at your hidden sins. Instead, confess and seek the forgiveness that God is willing to grant, and find freedom from the hypocrisy which only robs you of a healthy spiritual life. Destroying the deadly effects of a hardened heart begins by confession of sin.

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I have to say that the more I come to know about our Lord and Savior, the more broken I am that I willingly sin against Him. I was just reading this morning about godly sorrow over our sin, from Charles Spurgeon on 2 Cor 7:10:

And now, beloved, let us ask ourselves, - how could we have sinned against such a forgiving God? If we had known how readily he would forgive us, surely we could not have offended him as we have done. Such a God as he is, - was there ever any like unto him? Well might the prophet Micah exclaim, "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?" O God, how could I ever have offended against thee? Having done so, how could I continue to rebel against thee all those long years? How could I resist the yearnings of thy love, and the entreaties of thy Spirit? Oh, why did I linger so long before coming back to such a Father, who clasped me to his heart, and kissed away all my transgressions, and said, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet." Burst forth into tears, O eyes that have so long been dry! O hearts that have been like the rock in the desert, let the sweet love of God strike you, like the rod of Moses, and let the waters leap forth. The thought that we have sinned against such a God, may well cause us godly sorrow.

http://www.peacemakers.net/unity/sorrowandsorrow.htm

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