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Freedom From Your Secret Life

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“I went to band Camp and lost my virginity…” is what Amy Juergens from The Secret Life of an American Teenager might have mailed in on her homemade postcard to postsecret.com

But of course, Amy Juergens is just a fictitious character on a conjured up ABC (ahem) Family Channel show, right?  Now in its 4^th season, the Secret Life (as it’s called in shortened form) chronicles the lives of teenagers who seem to have it all together on the outside, when in fact their non-public lives are a Pandora’s box full of greed, anger, jealousy, and overall evil drama that we just love to consume for entertainment value.

But if I opened the lid and had a glimpse into who you are when no one is looking, would I find the same cauldron of seething secrets boiling over into the rest of your life?

My guess is, yes, I would.  And perhaps that’s why programs like Secret Life have become so popular.  We identify with the characters to feel more normal about the things we are terrified to reveal.  It’s a coping or maybe even survival technique that temporarily deafens the ears of our soul to the accusing bullhorn of our guilt and past mistakes.

Yet even when the show is over, the secrets remain.  And they crawl out of the recesses of our minds like rats from a sewer to remind us that we’re hopeless, helpless, and sometimes downright hideous.

And you know what?  I agree!  You are hideous…and so am I…and so is every person who ever lived or will live.  That’s why the Bible describes the whole of humanity in these specific terms:

There is no righteous person, not even one.
There is no one who understands.
There is no one who looks for God.
They all turned away.
They have become worthless together.
There is no one who shows kindness.
There is not even one.
Their throat is a grave that has been opened.
They are deceitful with their tongues,
and the poison of vipers is under their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are quick to shed blood;
destruction and misery are in their ways;
and they don’t know the way of peace.
There is no fear of God in their view of the world (Romans 3:10-18).

Not a pretty “I’ve got it all together” picture is it?  We are all under the power of sin and thus reality is a dysfunctional drama that could be called The Secret Life of…Everybody.

That’s what the Apostle Paul describes in his letter to the Romans about his secret life:

The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.

 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  I love God’s law with all my heart.  But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:14-18; 21-28).

Some people think that writing their secrets down or posting them anonymously will help relieve the weight of guilt, but that’s not the answer.

Others believe that sharing the hush-hush reality of our lives with friends will set us free from our hidden selves, but that’s not the cure.

But allow me let you in on a little secret about secrets. (in a faint voice, the author whispers…) “Secrets are only powerful when they remain secrets.  But if you open the gate of fear that traps them in your soul and bring them to the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, you’ll find that they disappear like small drops of rain in the ocean of God’s mercy and grace.”

Jesus Christ lived the life we should have lived…no secrets, no hidden shame, no locked up lies.

Jesus Christ died the death we should have died…He paid the price, He sacrificed, He declared “paid in full!”

And then He busted out of His own grave to offer a new life and freedom from our secret lives!

So if you are struggling today with guilt or fear, remember that there are no surprises or secrets with our Savior.  He already knows more about you than you know yourself, and He simply waits for you to come in faith and ask for forgiveness.  At that moment, He takes your past sins and buries them in the depths of the ocean and never remembers them again.

And when you find that liberty from your secrets, it will be impossible for you to keep the message of the gospel a secret as well! 

Your friends are trapped, you have the key, live out THE Cause of Christ, share the good news and set them free!

 

Sometimes we worry about how to bring up the gospel with our unsaved friends.  The truth is that everyone on earth has struggles with secrets and guilt, and they long to be forgiven and set free.  This week, ask your friends if they watch The Secret Life of an American Teenager and pray for an opportunity to share how you were set free from your secret life through the gospel and the power of Jesus Christ.

Jesus we praise you with everything we have for setting us free from a life dominated by sin and death.  Thank You for the opportunity to take the incredible gospel message to my friends who feel trapped by their secret lives.  Holy Spirit please empower me this week to set the captives free by living out THE Cause 

1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

 For insights on God’s forgiveness, check out How to Start Again.