The definition of denial in this context:
"Refusal to acknowledge the existence of something: a refusal to believe in something or admit that something exists."
It's a game of let's pretend: let's pretend I don't have this addiction. Let's pretend my words aren't knives cutting into the hearts of my children. Let's pretend I'm concerned about someone, not actually gossiping. Let's pretend God is more important to me than my reputation or wealth. Let's pretend I don't have a shopping, overeating, or porn problem. Ouch.
The more days I have under my belt walking this earth (over 18,000), the sadder I feel that so many of us use denial to protect ourselves from the knowledge of our sin.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8.
So you sin. So I sin. Admit it. After we clear that hurdle, the next hurdle is generalizing our sin. "Oh, I sin in so many ways." Yes, you do. It's time to look at them and name them. But didn't Jesus die for our sins? Yes, He did, but that doesn't allow us to continue to sin. And to be in denial about any of our sins is to practice deceit, and that my dear reader, is sin.
Romans 6:11-16 reads,
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."
One area of denial I've been looking in my own life is hatred. I have always been relatively critical: of myself, of others, and rather than grieve over my sin, I have excused it with the lame: I "tells like I sees it." Which is a load of crap. Who died and made me Noticer of all sin? So this sin in my life must be confessed and repented of . . . TURNED away from.
First the confession:
James 5:16 says,
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
It's pretty hard to confess sin when we hide from it. We may think it's easier to ignore and deny our sin, but this self deception prevents true healing of our souls and propagates a stagnate life.
The confession is not just to God, either. The "one another" means humans, sorry. Here's where pride gets in the way. If say I have to confess sexual or addictive sins, it's pretty hard to tell that to someone else. But it is NECESSARY. Doesn't mean you have to tell everyone, but confession to a trusted friend so she/he may pray for you. This leads to the second step: praying for each other. Such a neglected though vital principle. I submit that we would be freer people if we practiced praying for one another . . . in person!
Psalm 51:3-6 says,
"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place."
Truth in the inner parts. Truthful with God, with ourselves, and with one another. We are not saved and forgiven so we can deny and excuse our sins.
I like this prayer from Psalm 139:23-24:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
In this prayer is humility, transparency and honesty. A courage to face the music. Jesus was "full of grace and truth" John 1:14. Is anything less required of us?
Jesus told the perfect parable about denial in Luke 18:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed abouta himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Ephesians 4:17-25 says,
"So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body."
Romans 6:11-16 reads,
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace."
One area of denial I've been looking in my own life is hatred. I have always been relatively critical: of myself, of others, and rather than grieve over my sin, I have excused it with the lame: I "tells like I sees it." Which is a load of crap. Who died and made me Noticer of all sin? So this sin in my life must be confessed and repented of . . . TURNED away from.
First the confession:
James 5:16 says,
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
It's pretty hard to confess sin when we hide from it. We may think it's easier to ignore and deny our sin, but this self deception prevents true healing of our souls and propagates a stagnate life.
The confession is not just to God, either. The "one another" means humans, sorry. Here's where pride gets in the way. If say I have to confess sexual or addictive sins, it's pretty hard to tell that to someone else. But it is NECESSARY. Doesn't mean you have to tell everyone, but confession to a trusted friend so she/he may pray for you. This leads to the second step: praying for each other. Such a neglected though vital principle. I submit that we would be freer people if we practiced praying for one another . . . in person!
Psalm 51:3-6 says,
"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place."
Truth in the inner parts. Truthful with God, with ourselves, and with one another. We are not saved and forgiven so we can deny and excuse our sins.
I like this prayer from Psalm 139:23-24:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
In this prayer is humility, transparency and honesty. A courage to face the music. Jesus was "full of grace and truth" John 1:14. Is anything less required of us?
Jesus told the perfect parable about denial in Luke 18:
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed abouta himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Ephesians 4:17-25 says,
"So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body."
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