From The Desk of Min. Frank Coleman Monday March 7, 2011 How to Conquer a Secret Thought Life Almost every man struggles with the temptation of secret sin. Lust, bitterness, pornography, anger, selfishness all of us have private areas where we are especially vulnerable. Many men fight against these sins for years without significant change. Why is overcoming secret sin so difficult? THE ISSUES OF VISIBILITY AND AWARENESS The visibility of our speech and actions helps us keep these in line. Visibility brings a certain level of self-discipline. We all want to get along with others and have a good reputation, and these ambitions keep us in check. In contrast, the low visibility of our private thought life has no peer pressure, no accountability, only self-discipline and dependence upon the Spirit. What is the result of low visibility? We lead a secret thought life, often unruly, which we would find embarrassing for others to know about. Low awareness sins are blind spots such as pride, resentment, bitterness, and envy. These low awareness areas are fierce battlegrounds in our minds. The Psalmist inquires, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults … Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19:12-13). You can’t beat an enemy you don’t see. THE VISIBILITY/AWARENESS CONNECTION In general, the more visible a sin, the easier it is to control. Before I received the Lord, every other word had four letters imaginatively arranged. I became acutely aware of the sinfulness of this coarse language because of its high visibility. In contrast, my ambition to control my own destiny without anyone’s help, including God’s, escaped my awareness for many years, aided and abetted by its low visibility. While the visibility of some sins motivates us to change, we can’t change things of which we are not aware. Awareness of sin depends upon the degree to which we are leading an unexamined life. An increasing sensitivity and awareness of sin helps us stop sinning. Let’s look at what happens when visibility and awareness are combined. High Visibility/High Awareness – These sins are the most blatant – sins that anyone (even the nonbeliever) would recognize as wrong. Notice how our high visibility sins are usually sins of speech and actions. Once a friend started an affair which everyone, including his wife, knew about. He was approached by some of his friends to abandon this highly visible affair. He was very aware of what he was doing but would not stop. High Visibility/Low Awareness – These sins are often the sins of nonbelievers, but not always. A man became a Christian, but after several years he still was known for temper tantrums at work. When approached, he said he thought it was perfectly normal to let off steam. No one had ever made him aware that anger can be a sin. Low Visibility/High Awareness – Low visibility problems are where our secret thought life spawns itself unfettered. Every Christian man harbors some low visibility/high awareness sins. “I know my attraction to pornography is wrong, but I just can’t seem to stop.” Once a friend offered to help me obtain a business loan. But when I went for his help, I couldn’t get him to follow up. My feelings were wounded. I was angry beyond forgiveness, and I soon found myself bitter and resentful. I didn’t have the courage to confront him, so I just festered. I was aware of this sin in my secret thoughts, but its low visibility didn’t require me to account to anyone. Finally, the conviction by the Holy Spirit became so strong that I reconciled the relationship. Low Visibility/Low Awareness – The most sly sins of all are the low visibility/low awareness ones. Not only does no one else see it, we don’t either. And since we rarely examine our lives or allow others access to our inner selves, we can be oblivious to our sinful attitudes. Recently, I realized I am a “critiquer.” I critique everything; people, buildings, cars, clothes, landscaping, colors nothing escapes the critique. That alone would be no problem, but I add to my critique a comparison to myself. So, very subtly, I put others down to make myself feel better. I was not aware of this sinful pride for many years. HOW TO OVERCOME SECRET SIN
CONCLUSION The goal of our secret thought life should be to be holy as He is holy. We must be ruthless in dealing with secret sin and take drastic measures to root it out of our lives “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). May God empower you to win the battles you face. © 1998. Patrick M. Morley. All rights reserved. by Patrick Morley and David Delk May God bless you! Frank Coleman All comments and links in this publication reflect the sole opinion of Frank Coleman |
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