Your secrets hold you back

Our secrets keep us in the dark and hold us back from truly being who God wants us to be. We can’t truly shine in the world when our secrets repeatedly drag us down and even restrict us from moving forward in our lives.

The shame and guilt wrapped around these secrets keep us in hiding. Sure, we can wiggle around a bit and shuffle forward, but then end up taking two steps backwards because the power of an untold secret or sin keeps us glued to one spot.

This is why the Bible talks about confessing our sins to one another. Because what holds us back is the fear that others will find out and Satan uses that to keep us hiding in the dark:

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. “
James 5:16 NLT

This verse says that even though we have confessed our sin to God, it is in our best interests to tell at least one person our secret sin or shame story, because it is through this act our healing comes.

Several years back, I was involved in a seminar dealing with things from our past that were holding us back. One of the scariest sessions that we had to face was confessing our secret sins and failures in a small group setting.

I was absolutely terrified when I was told what we were supposed to do. But sharing my biggest fears and secrets was one of the best things I ever did.

It wasn’t until I shared my shame stories in this setting that I truly felt released from these secrets (I had two) that had dragged me down for years.

The very act of sharing my secret sins in this small group broke the chains of fear and shame and now along with God three other people knew my story.

And, because we all shared our secrets with each other we bonded and grew closer and were still keeping contact months later.

But it wasn’t easy.

One gal in our group ran out of the room because she was so ashamed of what she had done, but with encouragement she came back and shared her story.

I could see the relief and release she felt afterwards as we gave her a group hug. There was no judgement from any of us because we had all fallen into the same pit of shame.

God knows when we fall short, but to break the hold these secrets have on us, we need to share them with at least one other person. I can’t fully explain it, but having seen it for myself, something happens when we share our story with another person. Once someone else knows, it is no longer a secret or hidden and the shame hold it once had on us is broken.

Owning our stuff is not easy! But as I shared my darkest secrets with a small group, my prison doors literally flew open before my eyes! I felt the strength to move forward. It was the start of my healing journey and discovering who I really was!